Birthday Boys- Aymeric Laporte and Joao Cancelo

In today’s edition of the Birthday Boys, we explore the career’s of Manchester City duo Aymeric Laporte and Joao Cancelo.

Aymeric Laporte

The Frenchman turns 26 today and has been a solid defender for Manchester City in the time he has spent at the Manchester club but, how did he get to the level he’s at now.

From Bilbao U19’s, he progressed to CD Basconia for a year in 2011 and returned to Athletic Bilbao to make the step into the B team of the Spanish club.

He played eight games from July 2012 to Decmber 2012 for the B team and the youngster looked to make an impact in Bilbao.

In December 2012, Laporte was promoted into the senior team. In the half a season he was with the senior team, he appeared in 17 games for Bilbao.

His first full season came in the 13/14 season and what a season it was for Laporte. 38 games under his belt and scoring twice that season. Laporte still had a lot to learn but, was getting a lot of experience for his young age.

The next season he played 49 games in all competitions for Bilbao which was the most he had ever experienced and was a rock in the defence for the Spanish side.

45 games in the next season and 43 the season after saw Laporte be a hot prospect for European giants that may want to sign the cenre-back.

The first half of the 17/18 season saw Laporte play 30 times and assist three times with teams in other leagues looking to sign the defender in January.

On the 30th January 2018, Laporte would make the move to Manchester City for £59 million. In the half the season he got for City, he played 13 times and proved that he can make it in the Premier League.

His first full season in the 18/19 campaign, the Frenchman played 51 games in all competitions and only missed three games in the Premier League due to injury.

He’s only managed to feature eight times this season due to an ongoing knee problem and fitness issues which have sidelined him for long amount of time.

He is yet to make his international debut for the French national team but, has featured at every single level for France apart form the senior team.

He’s won a few trophies in his time as a player so far. With Athletic Bilbao he has won the Spanish Supercup and with Manchester City he has won the Premier League twice, the League Cup twice, the FA Cup once and the Community Shield once.

Joao Cancelo

The Manchester City right-back also turns 26 and he’s had a tough time so far in Manchester.

He rose through the ranks at Benfica starting off in the U15’s in 2009 and making the first team in July 2014 but, he would be loaned out to Valencia for the season in that same August.

He would make 13 appearances for Valencia that season. In July 2015, he would sign for Valencia permanently for £13.5 million.

39 games for Valencia that season saw the Portuguese wing-back have one of his best seasons in football. Three goals and five assists that season created a lot of rumours of the player moving elsewhere. 38 games in the next season saw him score once and assist four times.

Inter came in for the full-back but only wanted to have the player for a year on loan. 28 appearances for the San Siro side followed for Cancelo scoring once and assisting four times for the second year running.

Juventus signed the right-back from Valencia in July 2018 for £36 million. He would feature 34 times for the club that season scoring once and assisting five times.

Cancelo was on the move yet again, this time moving to England in the summer of 2019 to Manchester City for £58 million. His first season in a Manchester City shirt has seen the Portuguese international feature 24 times scoring once and assisting once. It is clear to see that Cancelo hasn’t adapted to Premier League football yet.

Internationally, he has made 16 appearances for the Portugal national team scoring three goals and winning the inaugral UEFA Nations League trophy.

He’s a born winner with every club he has been at. He’s won the Portugues Supercup, Portuguese Cup, Portugues League Cup and Liga NOS with Benfica. He won the Serie A and Italian Supercup with Juventus and he has won the League Cup with Manchester City.

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