Aymeric Laporte believes Didier Deschamps’ failure to call him up to the French national team must be down to ‘personal reasons’.
After making over 200 appearances for Athletic Bilbao, Laporte made a £57m move to Manchester City in January as Pep Guardiola looked to increase their stranglehold on the Premier League title.
Why has Laporte never been capped for France? Five key things to know…
- Aymeric Laporte made over 200 appearances for Athletic Bilbao before joining Manchester City in January.
- He has adapted well to life under Guardiola, completing more passes than any other City player since his transfer.
- Laporte has been capped 51 times at youth level for France, dating back to 2011.
- Despite this, his only international call-up came in 2016 and the defender didn’t get onto the pitch.
- Laporte believes Deschamps has a “personal reason” for not calling him up.
Laporte has slotted straight into Guardiola’s system, with no other player completing more passes in the Premier League this season than the Frenchman’s 1,270, while 54 aerial duels won and 28 interceptions are the most from a defender at Man City during that time.
Despite that, Laporte is yet to receive a cap for the French senior side, missing out on a 2018 World Cup winners’ medal, with his only call up to date coming back in 2016, although he didn’t make an appearance.
But Laporte is certain that his continual omission from the squad must be personal, rather than being based on footballing ability.
When asked about his lack of international action by EiTB (via Goal), a media outlet from the Basque region in France, Laporte replied: “That question only has one answer: there is a coach and he doesn’t call me, so I need to wait, to keep working and that’s it.
“Of course I don’t think it’s because of a sporting issue, you’d have to ask him personally, I don’t have anything personal against him, but if someone has a problem it’s him and not me.
“I could be a world champion… but these are the decisions of the coach, who is not calling me for, I think, personal reasons, and I have to respect him.”
However, despite his obvious bemusement over not receiving a call-up, Laporte stressed he wouldn’t be contacting Deschamps, leaving the ball firmly in his court.
He added: “I’m not going to call him. Why? To slam him? No, obviously not. I’m still working in the club, playing at the highest level for this kind of thing [an international call-up]… the only person who can solve this is the coach.”
“I think that’s already closed,” Laporte addresses dual-nationality
It has been suggested in the past that Laporte would switch his international allegiance, with the defender also eligible to play for Spain.
However, Laporte has once again dismissed that prospect, maintaining that he is loyal to France.
“Play with Spain?” he said when asked about representing Luis Enrique’s side. “I think that’s already closed, but even so I opt for France because I’m French, I don’t have dual citizenship and I’m not going to ask for it.
“I don’t know if playing with Spain is possible.”
The post Aymeric Laporte says his lack of France call-up is based on “personal” reason appeared first on Squawka News.
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