Aymeric Laporte has become one of Pep Guardiola’s first picks in the Manchester City team this season, and clearly knows his way around a football pitch.
But his regional geography needs some polish – he said that there are several football teams in Manchester, and included Stoke City, which is 45 miles to the south!
Laporte was interviewed by Deux Nuits Avec in the run-up to the Crystal Palace game last month in which the Londoners left the Etihad with a surprise 3-2 win.
Laporte has had to adjust to life in Manchester since moving into a city centre apartment after his £57million move from Athletic Bilbao.
“Life here is really different – it’s night time around 4.30 to 5pm,” he said. “It’s colder and it rains a bit more than in Bilbao.”
Laporte revealed that Marcelo Bielsa taught him how to win his duels
But he praised Mancunians for being “discreet” by not bothering players for photos as they walk around the city centre, and then revealed he has not quite grasped local geography.
“There are many football teams in Manchester … United, City, Stoke,” he said.
The misunderstanding seems to be from the fact that many Stoke stars actually live in south Manchester and north Cheshire, and commute to the Potteries.
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“It’s really common to bump into players. From time to time we meet players from other teams,” said Laporte. “Before, you could see Mourinho walking around here.”
But his best friend at City has now left. Laporte described Brahim Diaz as being like a little brother, and the pair spent most of their free time together.
He is also close to Chelsea’s former Bilbao keeper Kepa Arrizabalaga, and mentioned that Leeds boss Marcelo Bielsa, who gave him his professional debut in Spain, focussed on him winning one-on-one duels as part of his development.
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