At each transfer market, there are happy and disappointed. Aymeric Laporte believed until the last second of this summer window that he would join the winning camp. But finally, the Spaniard ended in that of the losers. However, nothing suggested that it would happen. In recent months, Al-Nassr has opened the door to a departure from the player bought € 27.5 million in Manchester City in the summer of 2023. Indeed, the Saudi training was not completely convinced by the 31-year-old defender, author of 30 games in all competitions last season (5 goals). For his part, the native of Agen was not against a return to Europe. This was already the case a year ago, when Real Madrid had approached him.
But it had not gone further since the SPL stable wanted to receive a big check to let go of Laporte. The Merengues had refused. A few months later, Olympique de Marseille looked into the case of the Spanish international. In search of experienced reinforcements for his defense, the Marseille club has grown the field for him as the summer transfer window 2025 approaches. But that did not go further and OM bet on other profiles. Afterwards, AS revealed that his name was cited on the side of several big clubs, namely Arsenal, Aston Villa, Inter and Naples. But none followed up. On the other hand, Bilbao has seriously positioned itself to repatriate the player who had already worn the colors of the team between 2012 and 2018 with the pros (222 games, 10 goals).
The documents were sent late
Especially since the Basques needed reinforcements behind. For his part, Laporte saw this return home with a good eye, in order to find the Liga and chain the meetings less than a year from the 2026 World Cup. Monday, on the last day of the transfer window in Spain, all the seers seemed to green. Several media have even announced that an agreement had been reached and that Aymeric Laporte was going to return to Athletic after two months long and harsh negotiations. But everything fell into the water. Yesterday, Marca Unveiled that the defender could not be recorded on time. Al-Nassr would have sent the documents for this deal outside the deadlines on the FIFA TMS platform where international transfers are recorded.
Confirmed information in the process by several Iberian publications. This is the case withEstadio Deportivowho explains that this setback puts Bilbao in a very delicate situation. “The Athletic Club raises its arms to the sky with horror for Laporte, because the documents sent by al-Nassr have not arrived in time and FIFA will, in principle, reject its signature by the Basque club. The RFEF submitted the file to FIFA, providing the documents that the Red and White Club submitted in time. The football organization has announced that it would investigate the reasons why Al-Nassr's documents have not arrived, which gives hope to Athletic Bilbao. The central defender will probably suffer the same fate as ten years ago with De Gea and Real Madrid. »»
The heap as a solution?
ED Add: “The situation is therefore currently very pessimistic for Athletic. For the moment, the only possibility is to recruit it during the winter transfer window, which would mean that it would miss the first half of the season. Despite this, the Athletic Club does not give up Laporte and hopes that the situation will be resolved as was the case with Dani Olmo last season with Barça. This situation leaves the Athletic Club perplexed, and its management of the transfer market raises many questions for this season. The Red and White bet on a single card: Laporte, with two central defenders in their workforce following the suspension for doping of Yeray Álvarez. With Laporte's refusal, Athletic will have to face at least the first half of the season with two defenders in its workforce: Airor Paredes and Dani Vivian. ”
Which is too fair. AS indicates that Bilbao can appeal before the Sports Arbitral Tribunal (TAS), “Who would gain their case and accelerate a recording which, in the current context, could not be finalized until January.” But Marca seems pessimistic.“What can the club and the player do now?” In the current transfers, it is impossible, because it is an automatic system used by all clubs, and FIFA cannot make any exceptions. The solutions are rare, especially for the Ernesto Valverde team. Athletic must still prove the existence of a contract between all parties, based mainly on the relationship signed between the player and the club. ”
A departure in another club is always possible
The Spanish media specifies: “There is no other option. Experts in the matter are surprised that the situation has reached one point where one of the parties, Al-Nassr, has unilaterally decided not to submit all the necessary documents. If the Basque club proves the existence of the agreement, combined with the philosophy of FIFA not to hinder the exercise of the player profession, a path could open to reverse the situation. What is now irrevocable is that the deadline for registering the Champions League with UEFA has already passed, and Laporte is not on this list. In addition to his return to the Athletic Club, the central defender knew that his presence at the World Cup was at stake. He will be absent from the field until next January at the earliest, which would be completely counterproductive for his aspirations, both for the coach and for the player. “ Laporte could find a withdrawal solution, but which will not be of first choice.
“All the transfer markets are not yet closed, and it seems unlikely that Laporte replayed for Al-Nassr (it could be registered for the Asian Champions League). The central defender should fully devote himself to the search for a team on open markets, such as Turkey, Russia and Saudi Arabia ”explain Marca. For the moment, no new track has leaked. Yet, El Chiringuito Ensures that the defender had other plans this summer, who clearly had his return to Bilbao back. “Laporte's signature fails because of those around him, they wanted to take him to another club”revealed a journalist present on the set. Moreover, many were surprised by the silence of Athletic, which did not communicate on the subject. “It is an aberration that the club has not spoken (…) Now, we will no longer be able to make fun of Barça”dropped a club follower on El Chiringuitowhere we talked about a situation “Historical ridiculous”. This missed transfer may leave traces …
