Manchester City man stalling on exit agreement as he awaits Real Madrid transfer hijack | OneFootball

Manchester City man Aymeric Laporte is reportedly stalling his move to Al Nassr after City agreed to sell him, as he’s waiting to see if Real Madrid will hijack the deal.

Throughout the summer, Laporte’s future has been up in the air. That he played just 12 times in the Premier League last season – as City won their third title on the bounce – suggested he’d be better served moving away from the Etihad.

He looked to have slipped even further down the pecking order when Pep Guardiola made Josko Gvardiol the second-most expensive defender ever.

Laporte has been the subject of interest from multiple sides both in and out of England. The latest side to register an interest were Al Nassr – the club Cristiano Ronaldo and Sadio Mane play for.

City have agreed to sell Laporte to the Saudi Arabian side for an undisclosed fee, which would see him become the latest in a long line of players to make the switch to the Saudi Pro League from Europe.

However, he’s digging his heels for the time being. The Sun reports he is currently ‘weighing up whether he fancies the Middle East’.

He’s stalling for another reason too, though. The report also suggests Laporte is ‘waiting to see if Real Madrid show any interest after losing Eder Militao to a torn ACL’.

The Brazilian defender will miss a good chunk of the season, having had surgery on his injury, and Laporte is seemingly hopeful he can be his replacement.

It’s stated Real ‘could hijack’ the Al Nassr move, though there’s no suggestion that they are actually keen on Laporte yet, that’s just a possible avenue if so.

Laporte won’t be able to wait forever, so he’ll be hopeful if Real do want him, they’ll make that clear soon. Transfer insider Fabrizio Romano states City ‘keep waiting on final decision’.

They likely won’t be too happy if a player they have little interest in playing decides not to leave, hindering their attempts to make money from him, as he was waiting to see if a better offer was to come around.

There’s also the possibility that Al Nassr walk away if he takes too long to decide. How long they wait for him to make his decision remains to be seen, but it won’t be forever.