When Manchester City announced that they had broken the piggy-bank to sign Aymeric Laporte earlier this week, many people had never even heard of him. How much do you know about the centre-back?
Just a cool R966million is what it cost City to acquire the 23-year-old Frenchman, who many believed is poised to take over from injury-ridden captain Vincent Kompany.
Here's what you should know about him:
1.He is a former rugby player
It has been reported that the young Frenchman started playing both rugby and football at the age of five, but chose to stick with the latter. This will be good news for the City team as one can imagine the 1.91 m defender will not be easily bullied off the ball.
2.Long Ball Specialist
The former Athletic Bilbao star is believed to have quite a left-foot on him and can drive the ball easily to the opposition's half. Attacking players like Kevin De Bruyne and David Silva, will be thrilled about this, as they will then be able to then forge an attack from one of his killer passes.
3. Strong Leadership Skills
Having captained his national team's U17, U18, U19 and U21 sides, the newest Citizen appears to have strong character, which is something Kompany brought to the table as well. Perhaps in the next couple of years, he may be the one donning the skipper's armband as well, though he may be further down the pecking order at this stage.
4. Easily dispossessed
Perhaps, it's one less thing for the Etihad contingent to cheer for, but the statistics show that the youngster can be a bit loose with the ball at times. A few months under Pep Guardiola is known to work wonders, so perhaps this is an area of his game that may improve with time.
5.Attack Minded
As if Guardiola's men needed any more attacking options! The defender is known to get forward when necessary and had a direct contribution to four of Athletic Bilboa's goals this season. This is always an advantage for a team who pride themselves in a dominating style of play.
Do you think Laporte is a good signing?
