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Laporte is yet to be capped at senior level by France.
Big Money Move

Man City meet Athletic Bilbao's €65m buyout clause to sign French defender

23-year-old Aymeric Laporte will leave to join the Premier League leaders, it was announced this afternoon.

MANCHESTER CITY HAVE triggered Aymeric Laporte’s €65 million release clause and plan to announced his arrival from Athletic Bilbao on Tuesday.

Athletic have confirmed that Laporte’s clause was triggered today, with a City delegation in Bilbao to push their first January transfer towards completion.

Laporte, 23, has also said farewell to his boyhood club: “So much to say with so few lines… I want to thank everybody for what you have given me. I arrived as an adolescent and I have been formed here as a person and as a footballer.

I don’t want my exit, ahead of a new challenge in my career, to be a ‘goodbye’, but rather a ‘see you soon’. I am leaving a unique club, I will never forget it. For all of that, thank you!”

The French centre-back is now expected to sign for City at the club’s training ground in Manchester, with an official announcement scheduled for tomorrow.

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