Berliner Tageszeitung - Man City's Laporte joins Saudi side Al-Nassr

Spain centre-back Laporte won 12 major honours during his successful spell with City.

However, he fell out of favour at times during City's treble-winning campaign and the close-season signing of Croatia defender Josko Gvardiol further restricted his chances of regular action.

The 29-year-old is the latest City star to accept a lucrative switch to the Gulf State after Algeria winger Riyad Mahrez recently joined Al-Ahli.

Laporte made 180 appearances for City after arriving from Athletic Bilbao for a then club record £57 million in January 2018.

"I am proud to have represented Manchester City over the last six seasons," Laporte said.

"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.

"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."

Laporte won five Premier League titles, the Champions League and five domestic cups as a member of Pep Guardiola's squad.

Now he will link up with Cristiano Ronaldo and Sadio Mane at Saudi Pro League outfit Al-Nassr.

They are one of four Saudi clubs to be taken over by the Public Investment Fund (PIF) in June, sparking a spending spree on star names from the Premier League and across the rest of Europe's top divisions.

Brazil forward Neymar and French duo Karim Benzema and N'Golo Kante are among the leading names snapped up by Saudi clubs.

Roberto Firmino, Jordan Henderson, Kalidou Koulibaly, Aleksandar Mitrovic, Alex Telles and Ruben Neves have also moved to the Gulf State.

F. Dumont--BTZ