‘It is the case’: Journalist says Man City are trying to replace ace who could be going to Spurs

Follow us on Google Discover

Speaking on the Transfer Window Podcast, Duncan Castles and Ian McGarry have claimed that Manchester City are looking for a replacement for Aymeric Laporte.

This comes after Fabrizio Romano claimed he could go to Tottenham as a part of a swap-deal for Harry Kane.

The Spain international has fallen down the pecking order at City over the past 12 months, and it seems as though City are now ready to find a new centre-back to replace him.

What’s been said?

McGarry and Castles shared what they know about City’s pursuit of a new defender.

“Speaking of which, along with Harry Kane as a target for Manchester City, it is the case that they’re looking in central-defence to augment what was a very impressive performance in their title-winning season last year. Speaking to sources at the club, they have opted to strengthen from a position of strength, and therefore they have identified, and Guardiola has asked for a striker, a centre-back and a left-back,” McGarry said.

Castles then shared what he knows about the situation.

“This is something City are working on, and part of it is driven by Aymeric Laporte, and Guardiola realising Laporte isn’t the centre-back he built him up to be, and having a centre-back who is good at passing with his left-foot won’t win you the Champions League if he makes errors in key games and gets caught out positionally,” Castles said.

“Laporte was dumped unceremoniously from the starting XI last season by Guardiola, he is phenomenally well-paid, he’s on £7m net a year, he is 27 and he is obviously not happy being a back-up to John Stones and Ruben Dias. There is interest in Spain, particularly from Barcelona.”

What does this mean?

There are a number of questions to come out of this update.

Who will City be signing to replace Laporte? Will Laporte now be used as leverage in a deal for Kane? What does this mean for Nathan Ake’s role at the club?

This is certainly a big decision at City, but it’s one that’s justified.

As Castles says, Laporte is incredibly well-paid, and what’s the point in keeping a player on such wages if they’re not going to feature in your plans?

This looks like a situation that could rapidly develop, so keep your eye out for any further updates.