Man Utd line up Laporte

Manchester United are believed to be strongly interested in Athletic Bilbao centre-back Aymeric Laporte.

The 21-year-old Frenchman has been gaining admirers with his performances in La Liga over the past two seasons. Reports in Spain had linked the player with a summer move to Barcelona.

However, it now appears that United may have stolen a march on the Catalans, with rumours of a summer bid gathering pace.

Laporte has a €50m release clause written into his contract and the Basque club would be likely to demand the full amount.

Due to their policy of only fielding players of Basque origin, Athletic are known to be difficult to negotiate with, usually insisting that any player's full release clause must be met if they are to be sold.

This was very much the case when United signed Ander Herrera in 2014, with Spaniards refusing to budge on the player's release clause, while also insisting that the funds be paid to them by Herrera himself.

This circumstance saw the twenty-time English champions transfer the funds to Herrera, enabling the player to effectively buy himself out of his contract in Bilbao.

United will be hoping their willingness to play ball during the Herrera transfer will have earned them some credit with Athletic, and that perhaps a more conventional agreement can be struck for Laporte.