Barcelona 'want Aymeric Laporte as Gerard Pique replacement'

Barcelona reportedly want to sign Manchester City's Aymeric Laporte as a replacement for the recently-retired Gerard Pique.

Pique bid farewell to Barca following 13 trophy-laden years at the club during the 3-0 win over Almeria last weekend.

Ronald Araujo and Jules Kounde have both endured long layoffs this season which has left Andreas Christensen, Eric Garcia and Marcos Alonso as their only options at the back.

With Pique's retirement, the club are now a defender light and they are actively searching for a replacement.

According to SPORT, Laporte is a target for the Catalan club to replace Pique.

However, the report also says that Athletic Bilbao's Inigo Martinez is their number one target, with manager Xavi reportedly a big fan of the 31-year-old defender.

Laporte has recently regained full fitness having missed most of the season with a knee injury, but he faces stiff competition for a starting role from Nathan Ake, Ruben Dias, Manuel Akanji and John Stones at City.