Al-Nassr sign Man City defender Aymeric Laporte: Decoding his stats
Manchester City defender Aymeric Laporte has joined Saudi Pro League outfit Al-Nassr. As per BBC, the 29-year-old Spain international has joined for £23.6m. He joined City from Athletic Bilbao in January 2018 for a then club record £57m. He ends his journey in Manchester after five and a half years. Laporte will team up with Cristiano Ronaldo and Sadio Mane at Al-Nassr.
Why does this story matter?
Laporte had fallen out of favor at City with the rise of defenders like Manuel Akanji and Nathan Ake. The Citizens have also acquired the services of Josko Gvardiol from RB Leipzig for £77.6m this summer which has pushed Laporte even further down the pecking order. Therefore the Spaniard has decided to move to SPL and join AL-Nassr, who desperately need some defensive stability.
A look at his career stats
Laporte started his footballing career at Athletic Bilbao's youth academy. He represented their junior team in eight matches before moving to Basconia (fourth tier) on loan. He played 33 matches in the Tercera Division. Overall, Laporte represented Athletic Bilbao in 222 matches across six seasons, while netting 10 goals. He moved to City in 2018 and featured in 180 matches, scoring 12 times.
Breaking down Laporte's numbers in the 2022-23 Premier League season
Laporte featured in 12 Premier League matches last season as he kept three clean sheets. He was injured and missed a major chunk of the season. As per Opta, he completed 882 out of the 947 attempted passes, clocking 93.14% passing accuracy. He won 24 aerial duels and 20 ground duels while registering 11 tackles, 30 clearances, three interceptions, and four blocks.
A look at his Premier League numbers
The Spanish defender registered 121 Premier League appearances for Manchester City, netted eight times and also provided three assists. He registered 50 clean sheets. He made 120 tackles with a 52% tackle success rate. He amassed 104 interceptions, 267 clearances and 647 recoveries. Laporte completed 10,109 passes in the competition while creating two big chances. He received 11 yellow cards and a red card.
Laporte has tasted a lot of success
The 29-year-old opened his account by winning the Supercopa de Espana in 2015 for Athletic Bilbao. He then moved to City and won the Premier League five times (2017-18, 2018-19, 2020-21, 2021-22, 2022-23). Laporta bagged two FA Cup titles (2018-19, 2022-23), three EFL Cups (2017-18, 2018-19, 2020-21) and the Community Shield in 2018. He won the Champions League last season and the Super Cup.
Laporte has made 22 appearances for Spain
Laporte played for France in various age group teams but due to a lack of chances in the senior team, he decided to switch to Spain in 2021. He made his debut for Spain in June 2021 in an international friendly against Portugal. He scored his only international goal in Spain's 5-0 win over Slovakia in the group-stage clash of the UEFA Euro 2020.
