'He Was Cheap!' Pep Guardiola Says Aymeric Laporte Was a Bargain Signing for Manchester City

Pep Guardiola has paid tribute to new defensive recruit Aymeric Laporte following his Manchester City debut on Wednesday night.

Laporte, who became City's record signing when he joined for £57m from Spanish side Athletic Bilbao on Tuesday, was thrown straight into City's starting lineup for his Premier League debut a little over 24 hours later. 

Goals from Fernandinho, Kevin De Bruyne, and Sergio Aguero gave City a 3-0 win over West Brom to extend their lead at the top of the Premier League table to 15 points.

Speaking about Laporte's debut performance, Spanish publication Mundo Deportivo quotes Guardiola as saying: "All teams work to improve their teams." adding that: "When you see Laporte's performance, people think it's expensive, and you think 'wow, it's still cheap.'"

Prior to his move to the Etihad Stadium, Laporte had been at Bilbao for six years, making 222 appearances and scoring 10 goals in all competitions for the Basque side.

Despite receiving caps at four different youth levels for France, Laporte has yet to feature for the senior side, though he will be hoping his performances for City between now and the end of the season will be enough to earn him a place in the French squad for this summer's World Cup in Russia.