Why Aymeric Laporte Is the 1 Athletic Player Real Madrid Would Love to Sign

Athletic Bilbao's Aymeric Laporte is one of the most promising young centre-backs in Europe and is the one player from this Sunday's opponents that Real Madrid would love to sign.

Laporte was born in the Aquitaine region of south-west France but moved to Bilbao in 2010 to join Athletic's academy. He made his first-team debut in November 2012 at the age of 18 and impressed sufficiently to make 14 league starts during the remainder of the campaign.

Then-coach Marcelo Bielsa was a big fan of Laporte. He restated his admiration for the Athletic defender at a press conference earlier this week.

Bielsa's praise was richly deserved. Laporte has all the attributes required of a modern-day centre-back. He is tall, aerially commanding, strong in the tackle and an excellent distributor of the ball over short, medium and long distances.

The French U21 international played a key role in Athletic's fourth-place finish under Ernesto Valverde last season, starting 33 of their 38 matches. He was consistently excellent throughout the campaign and was rightly included in the LFP's team of the season.

"Laporte has stunned everyone with his assurance as a centre-half," they noted in the accompanying article on their website. "He is a player destined to be headhunted by Europe's biggest clubs."

Here on Bleacher Report, Karl Matchett included Laporte in 16th place in his rundown of the top 40 players in La Liga during the 2013-14 season, while ESPN FC's Christopher Atkins picked him out as one of 10 players with the potential to star at the next World Cup in 2018.

"His international breakthrough will not be long in the making," he wrote. "Athletic will do well to retain his services much longer."

It is a lot to live up to up, but Laporte does not appear to have let the praise go to his head. As a collective, Athletic have not enjoyed a particularly fruitful beginning to the campaign, but Laporte has again impressed with a string of solid performances.

Athletic's toughest match of the season to date came on Matchday 3, away to Barcelona. The Catalans provide a unique test. With Lionel Messi regularly dropping off the front to receive the ball from the midfield, opposing centre-backs are left without a direct opponent for large stretches of the match.

The danger comes from runs in off the flanks, or neat combinations in and around the penalty area, providing a stiff examination of a defender's concentration and reading of the game.

Laporte generally stood up well to the challenge. He was proactive in stepping forward to intercept when opportunities presented themselves and usually timed his tackles well when faced up one-on-one.

There were a couple of nervous clearances under pressure, while he also gave the ball away with a poor pass into midfield in the build up to Barcelona's opener, but it was otherwise a good showing from the young centre-back.

He has also done well in Athletic's Champions League matches to date. He performed impressively against Napoli in the qualifiers.

And again against Shakhtar Donetsk in the first match of the group stage.

Laporte has unsurprisingly attracted the attention of a number of clubs. Arsenal and Manchester United, as per Anthony Chapman of the Daily Express, as well as the German champions Bayern Munich, as per the Muncher Abendzeitung (h/t The Daily Mail), have all been linked.

In June 2014, he admitted to L'Equipe (h/t ESPN FC) that a move to Barcelona would be a dream come true.

Yet despite all the interest, Laporte remains, for now, an Athletic Bilbao player.

Per Tom Conn of Inside Spanish Football, the defender's release clause currently stands at €42 million.

Real Madrid are not averse to spending large amounts on young domestic talent, having paid €27 million to sign Sergio Ramos from Sevilla back in 2005 and lavished €30 million apiece on Isco and Asier Illarramendi last summer.

In a market place that is bereft of top-level defensive talent, Laporte's release clause could prove solid value providing he continues his current upward curve.

At the moment, Madrid have just three centre-backs of starting quality, in Pepe, Sergio Ramos and Raphael Varane. Nacho Fernandez is a perfectly competent backup at centre-back or full-back, but he is not of the required standard to be a regular starter.

With Pepe already the wrong side of 30 and Ramos closing in on that mark, Madrid would be wise to add a young centre-back to their squad to act as a long-term partner for Varane.

Varane and Laporte have been touted as the future of the French national team defence and would certainly form a strong, composed and aerially commanding double act.

Varane is right-footed, while Laporte favours his left, which would also create a natural balance in possession. Varane's pace would provide ideal cover for the slightly slower Laporte.

Madrid would undoubtedly face stiff competition for his signature, but if they could sign just one current Athletic player, Laporte would be the one most suited to a move to the capital.

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