Aymeric Laporte completes £23.5m move to Al-Nassr
Aymeric Laporte has completed his £23.5million move from Manchester City to Saudi side Al-Nassr.
Spanish defender Laporte, 29, has signed a three-year contract with the Saudi Pro League outfit worth a reported £21m a year.
He confirmed on Wednesday night that he was leaving the Treble winners after five-and-a-half years in Manchester.
Laporte becomes the latest high-profile player to sign for a Saudi Pro League club, with ex-City team-mate Riyad Mahrez among them after making the move to Al-Ahli last month. Laporte will link up with Cristiano Ronaldo and Sadio Mane at Al-Nassr.
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Al-Nassr posted a video on Twitter to announce the signing of Laporte, who will wear the No 27 shirt. ‘Laporte is here,’ he said in the clip.
Laporte said on Wednesday: ‘Dear Cityzens, today I wanted to share a story with you,’ Laporte said in a video confirming his departure on Wednesday.
‘This is now our history. Thank you and see you really soon.’
Centre-back Laporte added in his social-media post: ‘It has lasted for five-and-a-half unforgettable years.
‘Plenty of memories that I will keep forever close to my heart.’
Laporte leaves Etihad after making 180 appearances for City, with his last outing for the club off the bench during their opening-day Premier League win at Burnley. He won 15 trophies in his time at the club.
The 29-year-old signed for City for a then club-record £57m from Athletic Bilbao in January 2018.
‘When I first joined, I was excited about the prospect of winning trophies. However, I could not have imagined the success we would go on to achieve together,’ Laporte told the Man City website.
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‘I would like to thank the coaches, my team-mates and of course the brilliant City fans for all of their support throughout my time in Manchester.
‘I will always be a City fan and I look forward to seeing you all again.’
After being restricted to a place among the substitutes for the Community Shield defeat to Arsenal and the UEFA Super Cup triumph over Sevilla, he was absent from the matchday squad for last weekend’s win over Newcastle.
The arrival of Josko Gvardiol from RB Leipzig has further pushed Laporte down the pecking order at City.
A powerful recruitment drive by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund has seen Saudi Pro League teams – all PIF-owned – sign a plethora of the world’s best players this summer.
Ronaldo, Mane, Karim Benzema, N’Golo Kante, Roberto Firmino, Jordan Henderson have all swapped the Premier League for the division in the Middle East during the past 12 months.
Laporte will now do the same after winning 13 trophies during his time at City, including five Premier League titles and last season’s Champions League.