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Cristiano Ronaldo's Al-Nassr teammate and former Manchester City defender Aymeric Laporte is set to take a massive pay cut to join Athletic Club on loan this summer. The 29-year-old isn't happy with his time in the Saudi Pro League and his loan deal will have a mandatory option to buy, as per TodoFichajes.
Laporte opted to leave Manchester City to join Cristiano Ronaldo at Al-Nassr last summer for a reported fee of £23.6 million. The 2022-23 treble winner has made 40 appearances across all competitions, scoring four goals but has expressed his dissatisfaction over his time in Saudi Arabia.
Earlier this year in January, Laporte claimed (via The Guardian):
"Many of us have also come here not only for football. Many of us are happy with that, but I am also looking for something beyond that is not the economic part and such. In terms of quality of life, I expected something different because in the end here you spend three hours a day in the car. Riyadh is a waste of traffic, of time wasted in the car.
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“The ultimatum you can give them doesn’t matter to them. I mean, they’re really going about their business. You negotiate something and then they don’t accept it after you have signed it. They fight you.”
The Frenchman is set to give up his £400,000-a-week salary just one year into his three-year contract. The report states that the Athletic Club are close to reaching an agreement with Al-Nassr. He will join the La Liga outfit on loan and have a mandatory buy clause in his contract - the details of which haven't yet been made public.
Laporte made a name for himself at Athletic prior to his transfer to Manchester City. He made 222 appearances across all competitions for them between 2012 and 2018 and also won the Supercopa de Espana back in 2015.
Cristiano Ronaldo's teammate Aymeric Laporte set to be banned for two games due to 'disgraceful behavior'; will miss Al-Nassr's King's Cup final clash vs Al-Hilal: Reports
Aymeric Laporte has seemingly played his last game for Cristiano Ronaldo's Al-Nassr in their 2-2 draw against Al-Riyadh on Thursday, May 23. The former lost his cool in the 63rd minute when the Knights of Najd were trailing and resorted to punching Mohammed Al-Aqel in the arm. He was subsequently given a straight red card, much to his frustration.
As a result, referee Khaled Al-Taris reported that Laporte had committed 'disgraceful behavior', according to 9NFCBALL on X. The Frenchman is now set to miss Al-Nassr's final two games of the season against Al-Ittihad in the Saudi Pro League, and the King Cup of Champions final versus Al-Hilal.
This isn't the first time Laporte has been dismissed due to violent conduct. He was given a red card in March after lashing out at Bandar Al-Ahbabi in their 1-0 loss to Al-Ain in the first leg of the AFC Champions League quarter-finals. Cristiano Ronaldo's Al-Nassr lost the tie, losing 3-1 on penalties after the scores ended 4-4 on aggregate.
