A former Man City star is reportedly available for just £20m this summer transfer window
One of the teams to watch this transfer window after finishing the Premier League joint-tenth in the form table since Vitor Pereira’s arrival, a main priority for Wolverhampton Wanderers’ this summer is shoring up the leakiest surviving defence in the top flight - and a Euro 2024 and Champions League winner could be the man to help them do it.
In the space of four months, Pereira effectively halved Wolves’ goals conceded per game from 2.5 to 1.3, and boosted their expected points exponentially, but he appears keen to draught in defensive reinforcements in a bid to keep the taps flowing despite Toti Gomes and Matt Doherty’s marked improvement in the second half of the season.
Indeed, it’s impressive that Wolves still managed to concede more than Ange Postecoglou’s kamikaze Tottenham Hotspur side by four goals given that managerial change relatively early in the season.
Ipswich Town pair Dara O’Shea and Jacob Greaves would fit the bill as would Steve Kapuadi who Wolves are preparing to battle for, and Zenit St Petersburg’s Robert Renan who Pereira once described as “a top team defender”.
However, another centre-back is on the market this summer with experience as a multiple Premier League winner and is already in Arsenal and Aston Villa’s sights for £20m, as Aymeric Laporte looks to return to Europe from Al-Nassr this transfer window.
Laporte could take Wolves to the next level
Laporte should tick every box for Wolves and having only just turned 31, he’s hardly ancient either.
One of the more underrated defenders of the Premier League era and inexplicably never capped by France before declaring for Spain, Laporte was hailed as “the best left-sided centre-back in the world” in 2020 by Pep Guardiola and quite simply blends everything you want from a modern defender.
Strong, mobile and commanding in the air, Laporte is equally strong in the tackle and cerebral in both defence and attack, possessing an excellent passing range and composure in possession even under pressure.
And he showed last summer that he hasn’t dulled much after going out to football’s early retirement home, playing all 400 minutes against England, France, Germany and Italy in the Euro 2024 knockout stages and only conceding three goals.
A relatively strong injury record - Laporte has only missed six games for Al-Nassr - adds further credence to the case that Wolves should throw everything at capturing the Spanish international.
He would bring real stardust to the back three and the grit that’s so crucial in the Premier League, Laporte could genuinely elevate Wolves to contenders for European football - they were just four points off sixth and seventh from when Pereira took over anyway last season.
But it wouldn’t just be a one-way street as Wolves have a unique pitch that could convince Laporte to join the Molineux revolution.
Wolves’ secret weapon to beat Villa and Arsenal to Laporte
He can’t say he didn’t warn us. Just five months after moving to Al-Nassr, Laporte was already dissatisfied with life in Saudi Arabia, telling Spanish outlet AS: “They haven’t made it easy for us. In fact, there are many players that are dissatisfied.
“They do look after us but not enough for my liking. That is to say, in Europe they pay you a good salary, but they take better care of you.
“I speak from my own experience and I don’t know what the experience of others is like. For my part, what I have seen is that they try to bring you in, but then there is the day-to-day life and that is different.”
Later, Laporte clarified “I’m very happy here” on Twitter - meaning it was impossible to see if he blinked ‘get help’ in Morse code while writing the post.
He has stayed at Al-Nassr for 18 months after that interview, though as one of a relatively few European players to move to Saudi Arabia - it’s easy to understand the culture shock.
And it appears he could be ready to trade Riyadh for Rednal or Whitmore Reans this summer, with both Mikel Arteta and Unai Emery investigating the possibility of signing Laporte.
However, Wolves have a major advantage over their Premier League rivals: they’re able to guarantee significantly more game-time ahead of the 2026 World Cup.
Laporte has fallen out of favour with Luis de la Fuente since the Euros and is yet to play for Spain in 2025, so the clock is ticking to win his place back in the squad, let alone the starting XI, with Robin Le Normand, Pau Cubarsi, Dani Vivian, Oscar Mingueza and Dean Huijsen all ahead of him right now playing their football in Europe.
He was unlucky to miss out on selection to the victorious French 2018 World Cup squad and surely won’t want to be left with the same regrets if Spain go all the way in 2026, but Wolves is his only current Premier League option with a starting spot open.
Laporte is unlikely to depose Gabriel Magalhaes and William Saliba at Arsenal while Ezri Konsa and Pau Torres would provide equally tough competition.
But displacing Gomes on the left side of Pereira’s back three is a much more realistic possibility and having such a quality Premier League proven player anchoring the defence could be a foundation of Wolves’ push towards Europe, while at £20m Laporte could prove to be one of the bargains of the season.
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