Aymeric Laporte raves about Leeds United’s Marcelo Bielsa

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Leeds United’s Marcelo Bielsa had a huge impact on Manchester City ace Aymeric Laporte.

Manchester City defender Aymeric Laporte has told The Times of his love for Leeds United boss Marcelo Bielsa having worked together at Spanish club Athletic Bilbao.

City are continuing to impress under Pep Guardiola, and whilst much of the praise goes to David Silva, Raheem Sterling and Sergio Aguero, defender Laporte deserves huge credit too.

The Frenchman was brought in from Athletic in a club-record deal in January, despite Guardiola already having John Stones, Nicolas Otamendi and Vincent Kompany at his disposal.

Laporte, 24, has quickly established himself not only as one of City’s best defenders, but also as one of the best centre backs in the Premier League having looked comfortable throughout his time in English football.

Laporte’s story started in France having been born in Agus, but he is of Basque descent, meaning that he started out with Bayonne before heading to Athletic Bilbao, making his way up through the ranks there.

The defender was given his Athletic debut by now-Leeds boss Bielsa in 2012, and whilst he is now one of the top young defenders in the world, he hasn’t forgotten his former manager.

Bielsa, who has Leeds challenging for promotion to the Premier League, spent two successful years with Athletic, including reaching the 2012 Europa League final, and Laporte has now hailed him.

Speaking to The Times, Laporte feels that he may not be the success he is today without Bielsa’s input, admitting that the Argentinian did so much for him – and has an ‘extraordinary’ knowledge of the game.

“Without him, I might not be where I am today,” said Laporte. “It was Bielsa who gave me my first steps in the [Spanish] top flight, and so I owe him a lot. I’m very grateful to him and very aware of exactly what he did for me.”

“Bielsa’s different in lots of ways, his character, his personality. You only have to talk to him to realise he’s not cut from the usual cloth. But he’s also a really hard worker: he never stops watching matches, he has an extraordinary knowledge of football, he knows everything about the game,” he added.