Manchester City Transfer News: Top Aymeric Laporte Rumours, Gabriel Jesus Latest

Manchester City are reportedly ready to revive their interest in Athletic Club Bilbao defender Aymeric Laporte as they seek to solve their defensive woes. Elsewhere, Gabriel Jesus has revealed Pep Guardiola's influence in convincing him to join the club.

Manager Guardiola has seen City's defensive stature crumble under his reign so far this season, leading the club back to the Basque country in their pursuit of Laporte, per the Daily Star (h/t Alex Porter of the Manchester Evening News).

According to the report, City will re-enter the hunt to land Laporte this summer, although the centre-back's £60 million buyout clause could present a stumbling block to the Premier League giants.

Laporte has steadily gathered renown as one of La Liga's best central defenders despite being just 22 years of age, although Yahoo's Andrew Gaffney highlighted the Frenchman hasn't been at his best in 2016-17:

City look to be in need of defensive reinforcements despite signing John Stones for £47.5 million in the summer, per BBC Sport, keeping just five clean sheets in their first 24 Premier League outings of the campaign.

While he may have failed to hit the heights of previous seasons this time around, La Liga compared Laporte to Atletico Madrid titan Diego Godin in January and illustrated how the young gun measured up in numerous fields:

Elsewhere, Manchester City hotshot Jesus has explained Guardiola played a crucial role in his decision to turn down a host of European powerhouses in favour of a move to the Etihad Stadium last summer.

Although the deal was agreed in August, Jesus moved from Palmeiras in January after completing the Brazilian season, and he said a call from Guardiola was the key to his decision, per The Sun's Justin Allen:

"

When I took the decision to join City, Guardiola's call was very important. He called me, spoke to me about the project and explained I was going to be an important part of it. I felt very happy.

It was a huge influence. There were some clubs interested in me, but Guardiola was the only manager who called me. He showed his interest in having me here, that I was going to come here to help, that he was counting on me. I was very happy and that was when I decided to join Manchester City.

"

Allen's report detailed Barca were one of the clubs on the South American's tail before he signed for City, and the English outfit are already reaping the benefits of Jesus' decision.

The youngster has even pushed club hero Sergio Aguero out of the starting XI and bagged a game-winning brace in Sunday's 2-1 victory over Swansea City, after which Guardiola told Sky Sports of his adoration of the player:

The 19-year-old has only played three Premier League games but already boasts a record of three goals and one assist, not to mention recording an assist in his FA Cup appearance against Crystal Palace last month.

Given his age, City could cherish Jesus as a star for a decade or more—as long as they can keep their hands on him—and Guardiola could come to look upon the Brazilian as the best signing of his Etihad Stadium career thus far.