Aymeric Laporte: 'I turned down Manchester City, Chelsea'

Athletic Bilbao defender Aymeric Laporte has revealed that he turned down the chance to join Manchester City and Chelsea during the summer transfer window.

The 23-year-old is a regular in the football gossip columns, repeatedly being linked with a move to some of European football's biggest names.

Former France Under-21s international Laporte has confirmed that there was concrete interest from elsewhere during the off-season, but he opted to stay at San Mames for at least another year.

Asked by L'Equipe about the links to City and Chelsea, he said: "I had the chance to leave but I did not feel it. Also because I was injured and did not want to leave so. Chelsea's interest? I can not say anything, it's a personal thing."

Laporte, a part of the Bilbao setup since 2010, has featured in all eight of the club's La Liga games so far in 2017-18.