Athletic Club have announced Manchester City have triggered Aymeric Laporte’s stunning €65m (£57m) release clause.
Pep Guardiola’s side failed to sign Laporte in 2016 but have successfully rekindled their interest this month after missing out on Virgil van Dijk to Liverpool at the start of the year.
City were in pursuit of former Manchester United defender Jonny Evans but have instead switched their focus to long-term target Laporte and have agreed to make the 23-year-old the most expensive player in the club’s history.
“So much to tell in a few lines… I want to thank you all for everything you have given to me,” Laporte penned in an open letter to the Athletic Club supporters. “I arrived as a teenager and here I have grew up as a person and as a football player.
“My farewell, facing a new challenge in my professional career, I don’t want it to be a goodbye, but a see you soon. Here I leave a unique club, different and that I will never forget.”
Laporte, who has not yet hit his full potential, will become the second most expensive defender in the world, after Van Dijk, and is expected to be officially unveiled as a City player within the next 24 hours.
It means that Guardiola has assembled a backline containing three of the four most expensive defenders after already shelling out a combined £100m to sign Kyle Walker and Benjamin Mendy in the summer.
Only Eibar defender Anaitz Arbilla (9.2) averages more accurate long balls than Laporte (7.4) of all outfielders in La Liga this season.
