Arsenal finished second in the Premier League last season but conceded more goals at home than all but six clubs (25), so Mikel Arteta is on the hunt for a centre-back to strengthen his backline. The Gunners are set to sign Jurrien Timber and have been linked with Marc Guehi among others, but Paul Brown told Give Me Sport that Aymeric Laporte would be a ‘really good’ signing for the North Londoners.
The 29-year-old joined Manchester City from Athletic Bilbao in 2018 and has gone on to make 179 appearances in all competitions, scoring 12 goals with four assists. His future at the Etihad Stadium is uncertain, however, due to a lack of playing time under Pep Guardiola last season. Laporte has fallen down the pecking order and might be granted a departure if he requests it.
Arsenal aren’t short of options with William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhães, Jakub Kiwior, Auston Trusty and Rob Holding, but Trusty has been loaned out in back-to-back seasons while Holding has been linked with a departure. After Arteta sold Konstantinos Mavropanos to VfB Stuttgart last summer, and shipped Pablo Marí to Monza this summer, the Gunners may have a void in defence that needs filling.
Reports coming out of Spain claimed that Arsenal are showing a keen interest in signing Laporte, and Brown says the Man City star would be a terrific addition as he’s a reliable ‘winner’ who’d compliment Arsenal’s existing centre-backs.
Winner
Brown told Give Me Sport: “Laporte, going to Arsenal, I think that would be actually quite a nice fit. I think he would do a really good job. Laporte has the kind of profile that would slot in quite nicely alongside a couple of the different centre backs. He’s reliable, experienced, used to being a winner. That feels like a move that would be a really good one if Arsenal were able to pull it off.”
Laporte made 24 appearances across the board last season, featuring in only four of City’s 13 Champions League games while starting 11 Premier League games from a possible 38. The French-born Spanish international has two years left on his deal but may not want to stay beyond the summer if he remains in the cold.
Laporte has an asking price of €30m (£26m), so he wouldn’t break the bank for Arsenal. And with the Gunners agreeing deals for Oleksandr Zinchenko and Gabriel Jesus last summer, they clearly have a good working relationship with City.
Laporte is one of the best central defenders in the league, so Arsenal would be greatly improving the squad if they managed to sign him.
