Man City back in hunt for Aymeric Laporte

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola will seek to revive the club's interest in Aymeric Laporte following their failure to sign the defender last summer.

The France under-21 international was heavily linked with a move to the Etihad seven months ago before he committed his future to Athletic Bilbao until 2020.

Since then, it has been revealed that the 22-year-old has a £55.5m buy-out clause in his contract, but this has not deterred Pepe from plotting a future move for the centre-back.

According to The Mirror, the Mancunian giants will return for the youngster in the summer as they seek to pair Laporte alongside John Stones in what could be a long-term central defensive partnership.

Laporte had previously suggested that he was not ready to progress to a big club, but his current valuation could well tempt Bilbao to cash in on his services.

The Basque-born player has appeared over 170 times for Athletic Bilbao since his debut in the 2012-13 season.