Jose Mourinho got better of his rival Pep Guardiola when he beat the Spaniard to sign Alexis Sanchez. Can the Portuguese do it once again?
The Red Devils are 12 points behind Manchester City and it is getting more and more difficult to catch the Citizens. But Mourinho recently beat Pep to sign Alexis Sanchez despite the league leaders being linked with the player for almost 6 months.
Manchester City has now turned their attention elsewhere as they look to strengthen the defense. Frenchman Aymeric Laporte is on City’s radar and the move is on the fast-track after the recent rumors. League leaders are reportedly ready to pay Laporte’s £57m release clause to Athletic Bilbao after the defender expressed his desire to join Pep’s side.
First Sanchez, Now..?
Gary Neville, who spent few months in Spain as the manager of Valencia, is a big fan of the Frenchman. The Red Devils legend has asked United to target the 23-year old in one of his tweets. “In my very short time in Spain, we played them 3 times! This lad can play! Get in United. It’s really hard to get players out of Bilbao and costly, but this lad is a very good player.” Said the Englishman.
Laporte has been an integral part of Bilbao’s team for the last few years, missing just one league game for the Los Leones this season. The Frenchman has established himself as one of the brightest defensive talents in Europe with the number of clubs interested in the player. Meanwhile, Manchester City is in a dire need of a central defender as Vincent Kompany has struggled with injuries this season.
Stones and Otamendi are Guardiola’s first choice centre-backs, but the pair’s weakness was exposed by Liverpool in City’s first league defeat. United recently signed Alexis Sanchez from Arsenal in the transfer which saw Henrikh Mkhitaryan going the other way. The Citizens was linked with the player in the summer, but United’s £500,00-a-week paycheck turned the move upside down.
Author’s Take:
This one looks more like a twitter banter than anything else. If the reports are to be believed, Laporte to City should happen without any problems. But we are currently experiencing the most unpredictable winter transfer window, so I’m not ruling anything out.
