Although they could be a treble-winning outfit come the end of the 2022/23 campaign, one Man City star still wants out of the club, and it’s believed that he has his heart set on a switch to Barcelona.
Clearly, something must be up for any player to want to move from the Etihad Stadium at present.
Some of the football that Pep Guardiola’s side is playing is jaw-dropping in its construction and execution, and certainly marks out the Catalan as one of the finest coaches of his generation.
Barcelona’s Xavi would hope to follow in his former coach’s footsteps, but the Spanish league giants can still be said to be going through a period of transition at present.
Newcastle are a little further down the road than Barcelona, and Eddie Howe appears to be building a squad to challenge City and Barcelona for the major honours available in the game.
For Aymeric Laporte, however, it would appear to just be a case of wanting to return home to Spain.
According to Mundo Deportivo, Laporte has ‘ruled out’ the overtures from St. James’ Park and other interested parties, because he has set his heart on joining Barca.
It’s a big call for Laporte to make because not only do the Catalan club have FFP issues to deal with, they already have Andreas Christensen, Jules Kounde, Eric Garcia and Ronald Araujo in situ as centre-backs.
Unless they’re planning to cash in on one, and there’s been no indication that’s the case, then Laporte’s dream move will turn into a personal nightmare.