Man City may have missed out on Alexis Sanchez, but the English giant finally landed one of their long-term targets: Aymeric Laporte. The French defender who has been on the club’s radar for a while finally completed his Etihad Stadium move on Tuesday.
The Citizens confirmed the transfer a day before deadline day. With Guardiola being unable to rely on Kompany and Magala, a new center-back was direly needed in Manchester.
And now they have one until 2023. The former Athletic Bilbao defender has been handed the number 14 jersey and will probably be incorporated into the starting eleven sooner rather than later.
However, it was his transfer fee that had everyone talking. The Premier League leader splashed $81m to acquire the 23-year-old, making him the most expensive signing in the club’s history and the second-most expensive defender in the history of the beautiful game.
This is ironic given Pep’s recent claims of budget and financial restraints at Man City. Twitter could not help but notice the contradiction, as seen in the tweets below.
Danilo - £27m
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOE_UK) January 30, 2018
Kyle Walker - £45.9m
John Stones - £50.4m
Benjamin Mendy - £51.75m
Aymeric Laporte - £58.5m
Pep shopping expensive defenders like... pic.twitter.com/A7a67zZNtp
Ederson £35m
— . (@OfficialCheIs) January 30, 2018
Walker £45m
Stones £50m
Laporte £57m
Mendy £50m
(Total £237m)
Courtois £7m
Azpilicueta £7m
Christensen Free
Rudiger £30m
Alonso £21m
(Total £65m)
Manchester City paying 3x as much as Chelsea but still don't have a better defence..
Pep: We have to work within a budget, we can't afford massive fees and wages.
— Burt (@LeeBurton_) January 30, 2018
MCFC: Delighted to announce the signing of Aymeric Laporte for £57million.
The rest of us: pic.twitter.com/4NI3EaX21y
Aymeric Laporte is now Man City's record signing.
— bwin (@bwin) January 30, 2018
Five of the top 10 were signed by Pep Guardiola
Laporte £57.1m
De Bruyne £55m
Mendy £49m
Walker £48m
Stones £47.5m
Sterling £44m
Silva £43m
Aguero £38m
Sane £37m
Ederson £34.2m#MCFC #TransferTalk pic.twitter.com/W5dJl1lNuR
Pep's Man City Defence INVESTMENT
— Terry Flewers (@TerryFlewersTFT) January 30, 2018
Laporte - £186m
Mendy - £172m
Stones - £146m
Walker - £148m
Mangala - £128m
Otamendi - £102m
Danilo - £106m
Ederson - £122m
Bravo - £89m
Total - £1.19B - includes transfer fee’s, salary, bonuses, agent fee’s, loyalty bonuses & image rights.
Man City now have:
— bet365 (@bet365) January 30, 2018
- The second most expensive goalkeeper in history (Ederson).
- The two most expensive full-backs in history (Mendy & Walker).
- Two of the three most expensive centre-backs in history (Laporte & Stones). pic.twitter.com/R8BdIWsaw6
Pep Guardiola: "We don't have the money to compete for four trophies this season"
— ODDSbible (@ODDSbible) January 30, 2018
GK: Ederson - £35m
RB: Walker - £45m
CB: Stones - £50m
CB: Laporte - £57m
LB: Mendy - £50m pic.twitter.com/ugJdM6ZbDb
FACT: @ManCity have now signed FIVE of the SIX most expensive defenders in football history.
— SPORF (@Sporf) January 30, 2018
Van Dijk - €84m
Laporte - €65m
Mendy - €57.5m
Walker - €57m
Stones - €55.6m
Mangala - €53.8m pic.twitter.com/9Y1YVk9NS1
Manchester City's recent defensive purchases.
— EPL Bible (@EPLBible) January 30, 2018
2014: Mangala £42m
2015: Otamendi £40m
2016: Stones £48m
2017: Walker £50m
2017: Danillo: £27m
2017: Mendy £52m
2018: Laporte £58m
Total: £317m pic.twitter.com/pKnADQiOUF
The clash with West Brom comes too soon for the Frenchman. However, Guardiola stated shortly after his unveiling that Laporte has the intelligence to start immediately in the English top-flight, meaning he could make his debut against Burnley on Saturday.
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