Former Man City star dreamt of joining Real Madrid or Barcelona before Al Nassr move | OneFootball

The curious case of Aymeric Laporte will continue to astound many fans as despite being a first-team regular at Manchester City, the player ended up signing for Al Nassr for a lucrative offer of €25 million per season, which happens to be tax-free.

For what it is worth, the Spaniard had offers on the table but none of them convinced the player to move. Among the Premier League sides, the likes of Arsenal and Aston Villa expressed interest but the player showed little to no interest.

Truth be told, journalist Sam Lee has reported via The Athletic that Laporte was hoping for a bigger jump and his dream was to return to Spain, either to Real Madrid or Barcelona.

As it turns out, however, none of the Spanish giants were ready to make a move.

His former team Athletic Club approached the player, but their financial offer was even less than what he was earning at City.

Real Madrid’s interest

Eder Militao’s potentially season-ending injury on Matchday 1 of the ongoing season suddenly forced Real Madrid to look for alternatives.

The manager, Carlo Ancelotti, was initially reluctant to make any more signings, but given the intensity of the season, Madrid were expected to get an alternative.

In this regard, we did report that Laporte was being considered and even the player was willing to make the switch to Madrid, but the team from the Spanish capital decided not to enter into negotiations.

At Madrid, Laporte’s defensive skills, composure on the ball, and tactical awareness were qualities that seemed tailor-made for the team.

Yet, football is a realm of unpredictability, and Laporte’s dream of a return to Spain with either Real Madrid or Barça did not turn into a reality.

Despite his impressive track record at Athletic Club and Manchester City in 2018, no official offer materialized from either of the Spanish giants. Eventually, the player ended up moving to Saudi Arabia, joining Cristiano Ronaldo at Al Nassr for around €27.5 million.