Manchester City Defender Aymeric Laporte Makes International Intentions Clear With Spain Snub

Manchester City defender Aymeric Laporte has all but ruled out representing Spain at international level, despite the Frenchman being able to do so.

The 24-year-old was born in Agen, in France, and has been capped 51 times for France at various youth levels but is yet to represent them in a senior international fixture. He was overlooked by national team manager Didier Deschamps ahead of Les Bleus' World Cup-winning campaign in Russia this summer.

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That prompted suggestions that the talented centre back could instead represent Spain internationally, who he would be eligible to play by FIFA guidelines after having spent much of his youth career with Athletic Bilbao.

However, Laporte appears to have since ruled that possibility out, with the National reporting him as saying he didn't think representing Spain would be possible.

When asked about representing Spain, he said: “I don’t think it is possible. If anything, I will play for France. But if I get selected, that is up to the manager, not up to me.”

Laporte has in the past told RMC Sport he was interested in representing France rather than Spain, having been called up to the French national team for World Cup qualifiers in October 2016. Laporte did not feature in either match, however.

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The 24-year-old defender joined Pep Guardiola's Manchester City in January 2018 for a club record £57m - the price of his release clause - and made 13 appearances in his first half-season at the Premier League club.

This season, Laporte has played in every league match, and has seven appearances in all competitions. He scored his first goal for City in a 1-1 draw with Wolves earlier this season.