Barcelona have been eyeing Manchester City‘s Aymeric Laporte for quite some time now. According to SPORT, the Blaugranas are looking for yet another defender in order to solidify their defense and Laporte is one of those targets.
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The Frenchman recently switched his nationality so that he can play international football after being left out of the French starting XI. He will now be representing Spain during the international fixtures in the hopes of getting more regular minutes.
The Blaugranas have already landed two Manchester City footballers in Eric Garcia and Sergio Aguero. Both were free transfers as their contract was up with the club. However, landing Laporte will not be as financially lucrative as the others.
Barcelona ready to trade Sergi Roberto for Aymeric Laporte
Given the financial problems at the Nou Camp, it does not look like the Catalans can afford someone of Laporte’s stature. He’s a well-established Premier League winning center-back and he is going to be expensive. With the only possibility of securing expensive stars is by offering players in return, Barcelona are now ready to include Sergi Roberto as part of the deal, according to SPORT.
Barca have had innumerable defensive problems. Injuries for Samuel Umtiti and Gerard Pique have been extremely troublesome for the coach. The two most senior defenders out injured takes a real toll on the team. Clement Lenglet had a bright start to his career at the Nou Camp but he’s had an extremely poor season but many fans screaming for his exit.
Hence, signing Aymeric Laporte will be a definite upgrade over the current center-backs at Barcelona. The Manchester City man has won 3 Premier League titles in 4 years and he’s a massive figure for Pep Guardiola’s men but this season he was replaced by the duo of Ruben Dias and John Stones who were in superb form with the former winning the Premier League Player of the Season award.
Sergi Roberto is not a regular in the Barcelona squad anymore after multiple poor performances ever since his return from his long-term injury. However, he’s shown what he is capable of over the years and could potentially bounce back to his prior form. At 29 years of age, the player is not done yet. Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City have always been connected to Roberto in each and every transfer window since the former Barca coach’s arrival in the Premier League. It is said that the Catalan coach is a huge admirer of Roberto and would love to have him on the team.
Hence, the La Liga giants will try to land Aymeric Laporte and hope to offload Sergi Roberto in the process who looks to be of no use to the current coach, Ronald Koeman.
Should Barca sell Roberto for Laporte?