Manchester City track Bilbao defender Aymeric Laporte

Manchester City are said to be long admirers of Laporte, with a serious ankle injury sustained on France under-21s international duty not enough to quell their interest in the player.

The France Under-21 international was not considered for the European Championship in France as a result of injury. One positive for City is that Laporte’s agents are Ivan de la Pena and Carles Puyol, the former Barcelona players who featured for the Catalans’ youth side at the same as Txiki Begiristain, City’s current sporting director, starred for the first team.

The north west giants have also been linked with a move for Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba but city rivals Manchester United are understood to be in pole position should the Frenchman elect to leave Turin this summer.