Laporte pays 65 mn euros to move to Manchester City

Bilbao (Spain), Jan 30 (IANS) French defender Aymeric Laporte paid his buyout clause to cancel the contract tying him to Athletic Club de Bilbao, thus enabling his transfer to Manchester City.

On Monday, Laporte, 23, deposited 65 million euros at La Liga's headquarters in Madrid, the Basque club confirmed, reports Efe.

"The player has expressed his wish to terminate and unilaterally resolve the contractual tie that linked him to the club since the 2009-10 season and has deposited the contractually-established compensation amount," read a statement.

In addition, the Spanish team thanked Laporte for his contributions to Bilbao.

The young defender's move to Manchester came on a personal request from Citizens' coach Pep Guardiola.

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