An update has emerged on Chelsea and how much they would need to spend to land Aymeric Laporte in the summer transfer window…
How much is Aymeric Laporte?
According to Italian journalist Rudy Galetti, the Blues will have to splash out £30m to secure the signing of Manchester City defender Aymeric Laporte ahead of the 2023/24 campaign.
The reporter has stated that the London-based side are “monitoring” the Spain international’s situation as they eye a swoop for the excellent colossus.
His contract with Pep Guardiola’s men expires in the summer of 2025 but it is said that he could be moved on over the coming weeks, which comes off the back of him falling out of favour last term.
Italian giants Juventus are also competing for his signature and could provide Chelsea with competition for the former Athletic Bilbao ace.
How good is Aymeric Laporte?
The 29-year-old enforcer is an exceptional Premier League centre-back and has proven himself to be an outstanding performer in England over the course of a number of years.
Judging by his skill set and stylistic profile, he has the quality to be Mauricio Pochettino’s next version of Jan Vertonghen, who was a stalwart for the Argentine head coach during their time together at Tottenham Hotspur.
The Belgian made 212 appearances for the 51-year-old boss across six seasons, which makes him the fourth most-used player throughout the manager's career so far.
As a left-footed central defender, the now-36-year-old averaged a Sofascore rating of 7.00 or higher in four of his last five campaigns with Spurs. He also managed a rating of 7.22 or higher in two of those seasons, which would have placed him third in the Chelsea squad last term – above fellow defenders Kalidou Koulibaly, Wesley Fofana, Benoit Badiashile and Trevor Chalobah.
This shows that Vertonghen competed at a high level during his time in the Premier League and Laporte is a player with the quality to deliver similar performances as a left-footed centre-back.
In six seasons with Manchester City, the Spanish warrior has averaged a Sofascore rating of 6.99 or higher in five top-flight campaigns and a score of 7.09 or higher in three of them, which would place him joint-sixth in the Chelsea side at the end of 2022/23.
Laporte, who was once described as a “beast” by writer Muhammad Butt, is also an exceptional ball player at the back. Over the last 365 days, he ranks among the top 1% of players in his position across the Men's Big Five Leagues and European competitions for progressive carries and progressive passes per 90.
This means that the £130k-per-week earner, who was once hailed for his "incredible" form by Guardiola, is one of the best centre-backs at the top level when it comes to progressing the ball through the third to start attacks for his team.
Vertonghen also excelled at that part of the game as he ranked in the top 4% or higher in both statistics among Premier League central defenders during the 2017/18 campaign under Pochettino's management.
Therefore, Laporte could be the manager's next version of the ex-Tottenham star as he has the ability to deliver consistently excellent performances week-in-week-out while being an incredible playmaker with his quality in possession.