It was beginning to look like Aymeric Laporte wouldn’t be playing at the European Championships.
The £57million Manchester City star was born in Agen, France but is of Basque decent through his great-grandparents.
The defender subsequently came through the Athletic Bilbao ranks, becoming one of the top centre backs in Europe.
Why haven’t France picked him?
Remarkably, Laporte still hasn’t been capped by France. Now 26, Laporte has never played a senior international game despite featuring prominently for France from Under-17 to Under-21 levels.
Laporte has played a key role for one of the top sides in the world, but Didier Deschamps has remained unmoved. Sure, he was called up in August 2019, but after suffering an injury, that was the end of that.
So just why has he been omitted for so long? It’s believed to be somewhat down to Laporte being a left-footed defender.
The Daily Mail noted last year that Deschamps doesn’t want another left-footer in his ranks, and he has gone with the likes of Samuel Umtiti, Clement Lenglet and Presnel Kimpembe in recent times.
Maybe things would have been different had Laporte been right-footed, though with Raphael Varane established and Dayot Upamecano coming through, perhaps not.
Spain set to snap him up
France look set to finally lose Laporte, as Marca claim that Laporte is switching his allegiance to play for Spain.
Luis Enrique wants him on board, Laporte is keen to play for La Roja, and the Spanish federation are now waiting for the green light from FIFA, which is believed to be a ‘formality’.
That means Laporte will be able to play for Spain at Euro 2020, and will battle Villarreal’s Pau Torres for a starting role as a left-sided centre back.
Laporte will no doubt hope to show France what they’ve been missing out on, especially if they meet in the Euros this summer.
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