Aymeric Laporte: Former Manchester City transfer target 'will study offers'
Friday 30 December 2016 07:21, UK
Former Manchester City transfer target Aymeric Laporte has said he will "study any offers" which come his way in the future.
The Athletic Bilbao centre-back held talks with Pep Guardiola over a move to the Premier League in the summer transfer window.
Laporte rejected that move and instead signed a contract with the Basque club which runs until 2020, with City moving on to sign John Stones from Everton for £50m.
But Laporte has dropped a broad hint that he could be open to a move away from Bilbao in an interview with Spanish newspaper El Correo.
"You have to think about offers and, if new proposals come along, I will study them," he is quoted as saying.
The 22-year-old French international also commented on his aborted move to City, saying: "It would have been a very good move, not just for me but for any player. But Athletic's philosophy is very special."
The release clause in Laporte's new contract is understood to be 65m euros (£55.7m) for 2016/17 and 2017/18, with that then growing to 70m euros (£60m) for the two seasons after.
Laporte made his senior Athletic debut in 2012 and has played 121 times in the Primera Division.
He missed the end of last season after suffering a fractured ankle in March while on international duty with France's under-21s.
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