Emerick Laporte has revealed that he could have joined Chelsea or Barcelona instead of Manchester City. According to the defender, both clubs showed genuine interest, but in the end, he opted for Pep Guardiola's project.
Guardiola first attempted to bring Laporte to City back in 2016 when the defender was still at Athletic Bilbao.
Laporte recounted:
When Guardiola was still at Bayern Munich, he was already thinking about the City project. He called me, saying he was about to take the job at Manchester City, that I would be an important player, and he wanted to see me playing alongside Stones.
There were also other clubs very much interested in me: Barcelona and Chelsea.
However, the move fell through following a serious ankle injury. Laporte admitted that he wasn't quite ready to leave for England at that time:
I had my doubts. One of the clubs pulled out of the idea after the injury, while the others continued to show interest. But I realised I wasn't ready, especially after the injury.
I extended my contract with the intention of staying. If the chance to leave arose later, I wanted Athletic to benefit financially from my transfer.
About a year and a half later, Manchester City returned for the defender, paying around €65 million in January 2018.
Laporte made 180 appearances for the club, winning 12 trophies, including five league titles and a Champions League. In 2023, he moved to Al-Nassr but returned to Athletic two years later.
Reflecting on his time under Guardiola, Laporte offered a mixed verdict on the manager:
Tactically, he's one of the best in football. But in terms of relationships with people – perhaps one of the worst.
The defender added that it was only after leaving City that he fully appreciated the scale of the club's achievements:
When you leave, you understand even better just how incredible everything we achieved over those years was. Wins started to feel like a regular occurrence.
