Man City defender becomes Ronaldo's teammate

On August 20, according to Goal, Laporte reached a personal agreement with Al Nassr. The Spanish midfielder will receive a salary of $ 27 million per year, more than three times higher than the $ 8.5 million he is receiving at Man City. Al Nassr also agreed to pay a transfer fee of $ 32 million to buy a player with a contract until June 2025.

Laporte joined Man City from Bilbao in January 2018, for $ 72 million. After more than five years playing, the 28-year-old midfielder played 180 matches for the English club, winning five Premier Leagues, two FA Cups, three League Cups, an English Super Cup, a Champions League and a European Super Cup.

Last season, after Man City bought Manuel Akanji, Laporte's playing time began to decrease. This season, with the arrival of Josko Gvardiol, the Spaniard is only a fifth choice at centre-back. In addition to an attractive income, the move to Al Nassr can help Laporte play more and increase his chances of attending Euro 2024. With Spain, he reached the semi-finals of Euro 2021 and the 1/8 round of the World Cup 2022.

Laporte will become teammates with Cristiano Ronaldo, Marcelo Brozovic, Sadio Mane, Seko Fofana and Alex Telles, five stars who left European football to join Al Nassr at the beginning of the year.

Al Nassr is currently fourth from bottom in the Saudi Pro League 2023-2024. In the first two matches, Ronaldo and his teammates lost to Al Ettifaq 1-2 and Al Taawoun 0-2. Meanwhile, defending champions Al Ittihad, Al Ahli and Al Ettifaq take the top three with six points.

Early in the season, Al Nassr won the Arab Club Champions Cup. Ronaldo scored both goals in the final against Al Hilal 2-1.

Before Laporte, Man City also sold Riyad Mahrez to a Saudi club, Al Ahli for $ 38 million. In the first two rounds of Saudi Pro League, Mahrez scored one goal. In addition to the Algerian winger, Al Ahli also owns striker Roberto Firmino, winger Allan Saint-Maximin, midfielder Franck Kessie and goalkeeper Edouard Mendy.