Manchester City Transfer News: Aymeric Laporte Rumours, Virgil van Dijk Latest

Manchester City will reignite their pursuit of Athletic Bilbao defender Aymeric Laporte in the summer.

That's according to Simon Mullock of the Sunday Mirror, who has suggested that despite the centre-back's release clause recently increasing to £55 million in line with a new contract, City remain big admirers.

"City have also been running the rule over Southampton centre-back Virgil van Dijk, but Saints have slapped a £50 million valuation on the Dutchman," the report continued. "[Pep] Guardiola believes Laporte offers better value for money, even though he is yet to make his full international debut for France."

Mullock added that Laporte turned down City in the summer to sign a new contract with the Basque club. However, the Premier League side are said to not have had their determination to secure the 22-year-old dampened.

Here's a look at why he is so highly rated:

In many respects, Laporte would be the perfect acquisition for the Etihad Stadium outfit, who have struggled in defence at times this term.

There are big doubts in all areas of City's defensive setup, with the full-backs beyond their best, captain Vincent Kompany perennially sidelined with injury and John Stones still acclimating following his move from Everton in the summer.

Laporte would add youth, composure and, most importantly, a lot of quality to the heart of the City defence.

Here's a look at how he compares statistically to Van Dijk, Stones and Nicolas Otamendi this term:

	Laporte	Van Dijk	Stones	Otamendi
Apps (Sub)	15	19	14 (2)	16
Goals	1	1	0	0
Tackles per game	1.4	2.1	0.9	2.5
Interceptions per game	2.4	2.6	1.6	2.9
Clearances per game	3.4	6.8	3.8	7.3
Blocks per game	0.3	0.7	0.4	0.4
Passing accuracy	81.4%	84.6%	90.4%	86.3%

A fee of £55 million may seem extortionate for a defender, although in Laporte, manager Pep Guardiola would potentially be landing a key building block for his City setup.

Having honed his skills as a youngster at the San Mames, the player obviously has a natural affinity for the Basque outfit, and given he penned a new deal ahead of the campaign, Athletic are under no pressure to sell.

But if City do trigger his release clause, it will be fascinating to see if Laporte can resist the advances of Guardiola's side a second time.

Southampton Reiterate Van Dijk Stance

Stephen Pond/Getty Images

Southampton's executive director Les Reed has confirmed the club will not listen to offers for reported Manchester City target Van Dijk in January.

"Virgil is not for sale," he told Adam Leitch of the Southern Daily Echo. "We haven't had any bids and if we got any bids we wouldn't consider them because it just doesn't make sense to think we would release Virgil van Dijk in midseason when we have still got, we believe, all to play for."

Per Peter Gilbert of Sky Sports, City, as well as Liverpool, Chelsea and Everton, have been linked with the Netherlands international, who is said to be valued at around £50 million.

With club captain Jose Fonte recently handing in a transfer request, Saints' resolve to keep hold of Van Dijk would have been strengthened further.

Per Squawka Football, the defender has been a dominant presence at the base of the team since he joined:

Given his aerial presence, pinpoint tackling ability and quality on the ball, Van Dijk would slot in well at City, especially given the style of football Guardiola wants to play. Additionally, Southampton do have a reputation for cashing in on their best players, something that will give the club hope in any pursuit.

However, Saints have not sold many key men midseason, and with Fonte's future unclear, manager Claude Puel will be looking to the 25-year-old to become the leader of his defence until the end of the season at least.