Aymeric Jean Louis Gérard Alphonse Laporte (born 27 May 1994) is a professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugb ...

who plays as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for club

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

and the Spain national team. He previously played for

Basconia Club Deportivo Basconia is a Spanish football club based in Basauri, Biscay, in the autonomous community of Basque Country. Founded on 14 March 1913, it currently plays in Tercera División RFEF – Group 4, holding home games at ''Estadio de ...

and

Athletic Bilbao Athletic Club ( eu, Bilboko Athletic Kluba; es, Athletic Club de Bilbao), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao or just Athletic, is a professional football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Basque Country of Spain. They are known as ''Los L ...

. When he joined Athletic Bilbao in 2010 at the age of 16, he became only the second player born in France—after

Bixente Lizarazu Bixente Jean-Michel Lizarazu (, born 9 December 1969) is a French former professional footballer who played as a left back for Bordeaux and Bayern Munich, among other teams. He also had 97 caps for the France national team. In a twelve-year ...

—to play for them, going on to make 222 competitive appearances for the club. In January 2018, he signed for Manchester City. He was part of the side which won the first

domestic treble A treble in association football is achieved when a club team wins three trophies in a single season. A ''continental treble'' involves winning the club's national league competition, main national cup competition, and main continental trophy. A ...

in English men's football in 2019. Born in France, Laporte won 51

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...

for the country at youth international levels, and was called up to the senior team twice but remained uncapped. In 2021, after receiving

Spanish citizenship Spanish nationality law refers to all the laws of Spain concerning nationality. Article 11 of the First Title of the Spanish Constitution refers to Spanish nationality and establishes that a separate law is to regulate how it is acquired and los ...

and approval from

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' (French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

to switch national teams, Laporte was named in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

's squad for

UEFA Euro 2020 The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2020) or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europ ...

. He would then go on to represent the nation at the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup is an international football tournament contested by the men's national teams of FIFA's member associations. The 22nd FIFA World Cup is taking place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022; it is the first Wor ...

Early life

Laporte was born in

Agen The commune of Agen (, ; ) is the prefecture of the Lot-et-Garonne department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, southwestern France. It lies on the river Garonne southeast of Bordeaux. Geography The city of Agen lies in the southwestern departme ...

Aquitaine Aquitaine ( , , ; oc, Aquitània ; eu, Akitania; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Aguiéne''), archaic Guyenne or Guienne ( oc, Guiana), is a historical region of southwestern France and a former administrative region of the country. Since 1 Janu ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

; and he is of

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

descent through his great-grandparents. He started playing football and

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

at the age of five, and began his development at Agen's football academy. In 2009, he was invited to join

after being scouted; by arrangement with the club, he spent a season with

Bayonne Bayonne (; eu, Baiona ; oc, label= Gascon, Baiona ; es, Bayona) is a city in Southwestern France near the Spanish border. It is a commune and one of two subprefectures in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine r ...

as he was too young to move outside France at the time.

Club career

Athletic Bilbao

Laporte arrived in

Bilbao ) , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = 275 px , map_caption = Interactive map outlining Bilbao , pushpin_map = Spain Basque Country#Spain#Europe , pushpin_map_caption ...

formally in 2010, joining Athletic's youth setup at Lezama, prompting debate locally over whether his signing met the criteria of their policy due to his tenuous links to the Basque region. He went on to play for the club's

youth Youth is the time of life when one is young. The word, youth, can also mean the time between childhood and adulthood ( maturity), but it can also refer to one's peak, in terms of health or the period of life known as being a young adult. Yo ...

and reserve teams. On 28 November 2012 he was given his debut with the main squad by manager

Marcelo Bielsa Marcelo Alberto Bielsa Caldera (, nicknamed ''El Loco Bielsa'' , meaning "The Crazy Bielsa"; born 21 July 1955) is an Argentine professional football manager who was most recently the head coach of Premier League club Leeds United. He is a forme ...

, playing the full 90 minutes in a 2–0 away win against Hapoel Ironi Kiryat Shmona in that season's

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...

. Laporte made his first

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Banco Santander, Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaL ...

appearance on 9 December 2012, appearing one minute in a 1–0 home win over

Celta Vigo Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta de Vigo or simply Celta, is a Spanish professional football club based in Vigo, Galicia, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spanish football. Nicknamed ''Os Celestes'' (The Sky Blues), ...

. He was inserted in the starting line-up the following week, helping the ''Lions'' to defeat

Mallorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest island in the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain and located in the Mediterranean. The capital of the island, Palma, is also the capital of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. The Bale ...

by the same scoreline, and was definitely promoted to the first team shortly after, signing a new contract until 2015; on 14 January 2013, he was given the number 4 jersey previously worn by

Ustaritz Ustaritz (; eu, Uztaritze) is a town in the traditional Basque province of Labourd, now a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, southwestern France. It is located on the river Nive some inland from Bayonne. Ustaritz station has r ...

, and late in the month he renewed his contract, running until 2016 and with a €27.5 million release clause. Laporte became an regular starter under new coach

Ernesto Valverde Ernesto Valverde Tejedor (born 9 February 1964) is a Spanish football manager and former player who played as a forward. He is the current manager of La Liga club Athletic Bilbao. Over ten seasons, he amassed La Liga totals of 264 games and 68 ...

, also being deployed as

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

on occasion. He scored his first goal as a professional on 28 October 2013, netting the game's only at

Getafe Getafe () is a municipality and a city in Spain belonging to the Community of Madrid. , it has a population of 180,747, the region's sixth most populated municipality. Getafe is located 13 km south of Madrid's city centre, within a flat ar ...

. At the end of 2013–14 league season, he was voted into the La Liga Team of the Year by the reporters of the

Liga de Fútbol Profesional Liga or LIGA may refer to: People * Līga (name), a Latvian female given name * Luciano Ligabue, more commonly known as Ligabue or ''Liga'', Italian rock singer-songwriter Sports * Liga ACB, men's professional basketball league in Spain * Lig ...

. In June 2015, Laporte extended his link until 2019 with a release clause of €50 million. After losing the

2015 Copa del Rey Final The 2015 Copa del Rey Final was an association football match on 30 May 2015 to decide the winner of the 2014–15 Copa del Rey, the 113th edition of Spain's premier football cup since its establishment (including two seasons where two rival e ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

, he played both legs of the

2015 Supercopa de España The 2015 Supercopa de España was a two-legged Association football, football match-up that was played in August 2015 between Athletic Bilbao, runners-up of the 2014–15 Copa del Rey, and FC Barcelona, Barcelona, the champions of 2014–15 La Liga ...

triumph against the same opposition, Bilbao's first silverware for 31 years. On 13 June 2016, Laporte renewed his contract until 2020, with his buyout clause rising to an initial €65 million.

Manchester City

Near the end of the winter transfer window of January 2018, Laporte signed for

for a reported fee of £57 million (his contractual release clause amount and a record-breaking figure for both clubs). He was given the number 14 shirt, while Bilbao immediately spent around half of the fee on

Iñigo Martínez Iñigo Martínez Berridi (; ; born 17 May 1991) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for Athletic Bilbao and the Spain national team mainly as a centre-back. He spent most of his professional career with Real Sociedad, playing 238 m ...

as a replacement. Just one day after signing, Laporte made his Manchester City and

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

debut against

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pl ...

. City came out victorious winning 3–0 as they kept up their title charge. He went on to make 13 appearances throughout the season for City, helping them accumulate an unprecedented 100 points in a Premier League season. He made a total of nine league appearances meaning he was eligible for a winner's medal. Laporte scored his first goal for City on 25 August 2018, equalising against

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club' ...

in a 1–1 away draw. He made 51 appearances during the 2018–19 season as the club completed the first domestic treble in English football history (

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football compet ...

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

, plus the Community Shield). He scored five goals throughout the season, including an important goal on the final day of the Premier League campaign as City romped to victory over

Brighton and Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football leag ...

securing back-to-back league titles and the second of Laporte's career. Overall he played a total of 4,352 minutes. On 31 August 2019, Laporte sustained an injury to his right knee, causing him to be carried off on a stretcher. He underwent surgery in September 2019. Laporte had been an automatic starter for Manchester City after his return from injury during the 2019–20 season and through the start of the 2020–21 season until a poor display in a 2–0 defeat to

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

on 21 November 2020.

John Stones John Stones (born 28 May 1994) is an English professional Association football, footballer who plays as a centre-back for club Manchester City F.C., Manchester City and the England national football team, England national team. Stones began h ...

replaced Laporte in the centre of defence and formed a formidable partnership with new signing Rúben Dias in Laporte's absence from the starting lineup. On 25 April 2021, Laporte headed in the only goal of the game as City beat Tottenham to win their fourth straight

EFL Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by t ...

International career

France

Laporte represented

at under-17, under-18, under-19 and under-21 levels, captaining each side. He was part of the team that came runners-up to

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia ( Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hu ...

in the

2013 UEFA European Under-19 Championship The 2013 UEFA European Under-19 Championship was the 12th edition of the UEFA European Under-19 Championship, since its reclassification from an under-18 tournament in 2002, and the 62nd since the tournament was created in 1948. It was hosted in Li ...

in Lithuania, and was selected in the Team of the Tournament. On 24 March 2016, in a 2017 European Under-21 Championship qualifier against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

Angers Angers (, , ) is a city in western France, about southwest of Paris. It is the prefecture of the Maine-et-Loire department and was the capital of the province of Anjou until the French Revolution. The inhabitants of both the city and the pr ...

, Laporte was stretchered off with a fracture and dislocation to his right

fibula The fibula or calf bone is a leg bone on the lateral side of the tibia, to which it is connected above and below. It is the smaller of the two bones and, in proportion to its length, the most slender of all the long bones. Its upper extremity ...

and ankle, concluding his season prematurely. Previously, in October 2015, he stated that he would consider representing

if rejected by France for

UEFA Euro 2016 The 2016 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2016 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2016) or simply Euro 2016, was the 15th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe o ...

. In August 2016, at the behest of new national manager Julen Lopetegui, Laporte began the process of making himself eligible for Spain. A month later, he was called up to the senior France squad by

Didier Deschamps Didier Claude Deschamps (; born 15 October 1968) is a French professional football manager and former player who has been manager of the France national team since 2012. He played as a defensive midfielder for several clubs, in France, Italy, ...

for

2018 World Cup qualifiers Eighteen or 18 may refer to: * 18 (number), the natural number following 17 and preceding 19 * one of the years 18 BC, AD 18, 1918, 2018 Film, television and entertainment * ''18'' (film), a 1993 Taiwanese experimental film based on the short ...

against

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

and the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

in October, and stated he had decided not to apply for Spanish nationality with the continued aim of playing for France. He did not take part in either match. In August 2019, he was called up for France's

UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying The UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying tournament was a football competition that was played from March 2019 to November 2020 to determine the 24 UEFA member men's national teams that advanced to the UEFA Euro 2020 final tournament, played across Europ ...

fixtures against

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and share ...

and

Andorra , image_flag = Flag of Andorra.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Andorra.svg , symbol_type = Coat of arms , national_motto = la, Virtus Unita Fortior, label=none (Latin)"United virtue is stro ...

; however just two days later he was injured playing for his club and ruled out of any involvement.

Spain

In May 2021, the Spanish Council of Ministers granted Spanish nationality to Laporte following a process initiated on his behalf by the

Royal Spanish Football Federation The Royal Spanish Football Federation ( es, Real Federación Española de Fútbol; RFEF) is the governing body of football in Spain. It is based in La Ciudad del Fútbol of Las Rozas, a municipality near Madrid. It was founded on 14 October 19 ...

(RFEF);

approved the change of nationality later that week, allowing him to play for Spain at the upcoming

tournament. Laporte had previously claimed that "playing for Spain is out of the question" and that he would not apply for dual citizenship. On 24 May 2021, Laporte was included in Spain's 24-man squad for Euro 2020. On 4 June, he made his Spain debut when he started in a friendly goalless draw with

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of th ...

. He scored his debut goal for the national team on 23 June, in the

group stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concen ...

5–0 routing of

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the ...

Style of play

Spanish football journalist

Guillem Balagué Guillem Balagué (born 2 November 1968) is a Spanish football journalist, author, and pundit. He was a regular pundit on Sky Sports' show ''Revista de la Liga'' and has also written for some of Britain's newspapers as well as several Spanish n ...

described Laporte as a "centre-back who can play from the back and is strong", adding that "he is certainly a powerful defender". He is also known for his passing ability.

Personal life

His younger brother Léo Laporte is also a footballer who plays for Deportivo Alavés.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Spain's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Laporte goal''

Honours

Athletic Bilbao *

Supercopa de España The Supercopa de España or the ''Spanish Super Cup'' is a super cup tournament in Spanish football. Founded in 1982 as a two-team competition, the current version has been contested since 2019–20 by four teams: the winners and runners-up of ...

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...

Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footb ...

runner-up: 2014–15 Manchester City *

: 2017–18, 2018–19,

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

, 2021–22 *

: 2018–19 *

: 2017–18, 2018–19,

FA Community Shield The Football Association Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield) is Football in England, English football's annual match contested at Wembley Stadium between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA C ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

runner-up:

France U19 *

UEFA European Under-19 Championship The UEFA European Under-19 Championship, or simply UEFA Under-19 Championship or the UEFA Euro U-19, is an annual football competition contested by the European men's under-19 national teams of the member associations of UEFA. Spain and England ...

runner-up:

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

Spain *

UEFA Nations League The UEFA Nations League is a biennial international football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of UEFA, the sport's European governing body. The first tournament began in September 2018. The ...

runner-up:

Individual *

Team of the Tournament:

* La Liga Team of the Year: 2013–14 *

PFA Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year (often called the PFA Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 55 footballers across the top four tiers of men's English football; the Premi ...

2018–19 Premier League The 2018–19 Premier League was the 27th season of the Premier League, the top English professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1992, and the 120th season of top-flight English football overall. The season ...

References

External links

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Laporte, Aymeric 1994 births Living people Sportspeople from Agen Spanish footballers Spain international footballers French footballers France youth international footballers France under-21 international footballers Association football defenders Aviron Bayonnais FC players CD Basconia footballers Bilbao Athletic footballers Athletic Bilbao footballers Manchester City F.C. players Tercera División players Segunda División B players La Liga players Premier League players FA Cup Final players UEFA Euro 2020 players 2022 FIFA World Cup players French expatriate footballers Spanish expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Spain French expatriate sportspeople in England French expatriate sportspeople in Spain Spanish expatriate sportspeople in England French people of Basque descent Spanish people of Basque descent Spanish people of French descent Naturalised citizens of Spain French emigrants to Spain Footballers from Nouvelle-Aquitaine

Early life

Club career

Athletic Bilbao

Manchester City

International career

France

Spain

Style of play

Personal life

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

See also

References

External links