da supremo： Aston Villa are monitoring Aymeric Laporte, and their chances of signing him may have just received a boost, as Manchester City are now looking to cash in on the defender for a fee of £30m, according to a report from The Mirror.
Who are Aston Villa signing this summer?
da wazamba： Villa have bolstered their backline significantly this summer, bringing in Villarreal centre-back Pau Torres for a fee of €33m (£29m), meaning Unai Emery is now mainly focussing on strengthening his squad in more attacking areas.
Daily Express journalist Ryan Taylor recently told GiveMeSport: I still sort of see another attack-minded player, someone who’s going to add more goals and power to the side. I think Ollie Watkins has done brilliantly, but I still feel like Aston Villa can probably take that area of their team to the next level.
“Maybe full-back as well might be an area they look to strengthen. I’ve seen Ezri Konsa has been playing right back a fair bit with Matty Cash.
“And there was a midfielder that Villa have been looking at, who is Tyler Adams. I think that’s one to watch,
It is not out of the question for the Villans to bring in a new centre-back, however, having recently made an approach for OGC Nice defender Jean-Clair Todibo, who is valued at around €40-50m (£35-43m) by his current club.
According to a report from The Mirror, the Midlands outfit are also monitoring Laporte, and they may have now been given a good opportunity to sign him, with Man City ready to let him leave for a fee of £30m.
After signing Josko Gvardiol earlier this week, Pep Guardiola is now blessed with options in defence, and he is willing to sanction the Spaniard's departure, but there will be fierce competition for his signature.
Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal have also been monitoring the 29-year-old, and there could soon be interest from abroad, with Guardiola keen to offload him to a foreign club, rather than strengthening a fellow Premier League side.
How tall is Aymeric Laporte?
The Man City defender stands at 6 foot 2, and he uses his height to his advantage on a regular basis, winning 254 of the 396 aerial duels he has contested in the Premier League, in a total of 120 appearances.
As well as being dominant in the air, the France-born centre-back is also extremely impressive with the ball at his feet, ranking in the 99th percentile for passes attempted per 90 in the past year, when compared to his positional peers, and achieving a 92.7% pass completion rate.
Lauded as a "beast" by football writer Muhammad Butt, the former Athletic Bilbao man has all the attributes to be a huge success at Villa Park, and £30m seems like a fair price, given he has only just turned 29 and that he has plenty of experience playing at the highest level.
The only potential issue is that Man City would prefer to sell Laporte to a foreign club, meaning Villa may not stand a very good chance of signing him unless the Citizens soften their stance later in the window.