Thank you, Aymeric Laporte, one of the best defenders in the club's history.

Image courtesy of mancity.com

After 5 and a half seasons at the club, it'd appear that Aymeric Laporte's Manchester City career is over, as he becomes the latest big name player to move to the Saudi Pro League.

The 29 year old has had his head turned by an offer from Cristiano Ronaldo's Al-Nassr, where he'd reportedly be earning a salary of around £400,000 a week, which is over triple his current wage at the Premier League champions.

On the morning of the UEFA Super Cup victory over Sevilla, City accepted a bid from Al-Nassr for the Spaniard, for an undisclosed fee. City had been willing to sell Laporte this summer, due to his frustrations at playing a limited role last season.

The fee has now appeared to be in the region of around €30 million, which is nowhere near enough money for me. However, I still believe a deal will be the best possible option for all parties.

The signing of young defender Josko Gvardiol from RB Leipzig was obvious preparation for Laporte's departure, but also planning for the future. Gvardiol has his whole career ahead of him, at the age of 21, whilst Laporte has the majority of his career at the top level behind him.

He joined City in 2018, as a rare January transfer window signing. Like many current City players, such as Ruben Dias, Rodri and even Erling Haaland, Laporte wasn't City's first choice target when they were looking for a new centre back.

With the £75 million price tag placed on top target, and current Liverpool captain, Virgil van Dijk deemed too high for City's board to consider paying, they were forced to look at alternate options instead, and settled on Athletic Bilbao's number 4.

Eventually, City agreed a deal of around £57 million with Bilbao to bring Laporte to Manchester. He acted as a rotation player in his first half season; he was an unused substitute in the Carabao Cup final victory over Arsenal and other important games in the league. However, he appeared often enough to emerge with 2 medals around his neck at the end of the season, for City's successes in the Premier League and Carabao Cup.

In the 2018/19 season, he was one of City's most important players, at centre back and occasionally left back. His excellent technical ability and ambitious passing from the back helped City go onto win every domestic trophy there was to win in that season, where he formed a formidable partnership with City legend and now Burnley manager Vincent Kompany during the title run in.

At the start of the next season, Laporte suffered a horrific knee injury that kept him out until February. This is the year where City struggled the most in recent memory, as they had just 2 senior centre backs in their squad without Laporte, with midfielder Fernandinho often trusted ahead of Nicolas Otamendi and John Stones (something that seems unthinkable today.)

With the near 3 month delay for Premier League football after the COVID pandemic allowing time for Laporte to recover, the Spaniard formed a partnership with youngster Eric Garcia, which appeared to be somewhat successful at the back end of the season, as City finished on a high.

The next season, however, with the resurgence of Stones, plus the signings of Nathan Ake and Premier League player of the year winning Ruben Dias, was one that saw Laporte demoted to the bench. He didn't start a single one of City's knockout Champions League games that season, with a centre back partnership of Stones and Dias proving to be unmovable.

With a minor injury to Stones giving Laporte the chance he needed to break back into the side next season, City's number 14 leapt on it. He scored in City's first home match with full capacity after COVID, and then kept his spot in the starting 11 for the entirety of the season, despite pressure from Stones and Ake for that position.

At the back end of that season, with Stones, Dias, Ake and Kyle Walker all suffering with injuries, Laporte fought through a serious knee injury of his own to help City clinch the title on the final day.

Essentially, Laporte risked his career for the Premier League trophy, and he needed a knee operation afterwards, which kept him out for the first few months of the next season.

Unfortunately for him, he never really regained his spot in the first team. With Manuel Akanji a new name added to the centre back list, Laporte found himself essentially 5th choice, and didn't feature often, as City won the treble without his major contributions.

With Josko Gvardiol now at the club, pushing Laporte down the pecking order even further, it seems the right time for Laporte to depart, with his head held high.

He has numerous moments in a sky blue shirt that'll mean he won't be forgotten by the City faithful. With Stones's injury ruling him out of the 2021 Carabao Cup Final against Tottenham, Laporte stepped up to the plate and scored the only goal of the game, to win the trophy for City.

He also scored on the final day of the 2018/19 season, in a 4-1 victory that saw City win their second consecutive Premier League title. It was at this point that his formidable partnership with Kompany was formed, and he was, of course, the man to assist the Belgian for his famous goal against Leicester City.

But, for me, the period that stands out in Laporte's City career is the run of games at the end of the 2021/22 season. With Walker, Dias and Stones injured, and Ake not fully fit, Laporte was partnered at the back by the veteran midfielder Fernandinho.

Just after the hour mark, Laporte went down with what appeared to be a horrendous knee injury. He was replaced by Ake, with the 30 minutes spent on the pitch by the Dutchman enough to aggravate his injury so badly we didn't see him again that season.

But, in the next game, Laporte was back. He battled on through injury, and gave his all, as City gained the required number of points to win the league title by a point.

The Spaniard required a knee operation, which he never fully recovered from in terms of regaining his starting spot.

For me, the final nail in Laporte's coffin is when Akanji started ahead of him at left back against Arsenal in Ake's absence, a position the Swiss international had never played in before at City.

For whatever reason, he clearly fell out of favour with Guardiola, but when he asked to step up, he did so admirably, giving his all for the club until he played his last minute away to Burnley on Friday 11th August 2023.

He has made a few mistakes in his career, particularly in the Champions League, but those minor blots on his paper are hidden by the magnificent career Laporte has had in Manchester.

Unlike Joao Cancelo, Laporte is leaving City on a massive high, and with the best wishes of every City fan. He has served the club wonderfully, and has shown that he's willing to risk his career for the benefit of the club.

With a top class replacement already at the club, it's time to say thank you to Aymeric Laporte, who is one of the best defenders not just in the club's history, but in Premier League history too.

Image courtesy of dailymail.co.uk