Manchester City announce arrival of club-record signing

Manchester City have announced the arrival of Athletic Club defender Aymeric Laporte in a club-record deal would up to €70m (£61.7m).

Laporte has put pen to paper on a five-and-a-half-year deal until June 2023 and becomes the second most expensive defender of all-time, behind Liverpool ace Virgil van Dijk.

City made a sensational swoop for the 23-year-old after missing out on Van Dijk’s signature at the start of the month and cooling their interest in West Brom’s Jonny Evans.

Pep Guardiola has now assembled a backline containing three of the four most expensive defenders in the history of football after successfully rekindling his interest in Laporte, 18 months on from his first attempt at signing the defender.

"I am very happy to be here," Laporte told the club's official website. "City are a club with a lot of ambition and they are one of the best teams in Europe.

"I am looking forward to working under Pep Guardiola and trying to help the club achieve success.

"It means a lot that the club have shown faith in me and I am excited to get started."

City’s decision to pay so much for Laporte has certainly raised eyebrows in Spain as the Frenchman has not hit the heights expected when he first emerged onto the scene.

Nevertheless, he still possesses immense talent and Guardiola will hope to bring the best out of the centre-back in order to enhance City’s chances of an unprecedented quadruple this season.

Only Eibar defender Anaitz Arbilla (9.2) averages more accurate long balls than Laporte (7.4) of all outfielders in La Liga this season.