For all of his incredible achievements as a manager, Pep Guardiola's first season as Manchester City boss saw him struggle to assemble a backline capable of challenging for the Premier League title.
City shipped 39 league goals in Guardiola's first season at the helm, though the January transfer window of the following campaign would see the club sanction a move for a defender who played a huge part in shoring up the backline.
Aymeric Laporte joined City in January 2018 for £57m, a fee that represented their club-record transfer at the time.
The move was evidently a statement of intent from City as Guardiola looked to secure his first Premier League title in just his second season in English football.
Laporte made an instant impact and played a key role in City defending their title during his first full season at the Etihad Stadium.
The re-emergence of John Stones in the City starting XI last season saw Laporte's future called into question but he's battled back to reclaim his place in the team.
In the MEN’s latest Facebook Live, City is Ours regulars Dom Farrell and Alex Brotherton were accompanied by Blue Moon Podcast's David Mooney as the trio discussed the Spain international's rollercoaster City career to date.
After the three had picked out their best City XI using only January signings, Alex kicked off by lauding Laporte's ability on the ball.
AB : “What makes him stand out in this January team is the fact he’s the only really good player! Jokes aside, he’s so integral to the way City build from the back and, as Guardiola has said so many times this season, he is the best centre-back in the world at playing and passing out.
“Ruben Dias and John Stones are really good on the ball but Laporte is just that little bit more penetrative with his passing and you can see he's always scanning and looking where to pass.
"He's very progressive with the ball and then you look at the stats as well and I know pass completion is a bit misleading sometimes for centre-backs, especially in a City side, but to average 95% added to how progressive he is, it's just pretty ridiculous.
“And then obviously beyond that is his actual bread and butter of defending; his tackles, his prominence in the air and all of the other aspects of his game are just really good. So I think the £57m City paid for him was a lot but I think it was definitely worth it.
“Obviously last season he lost out to Stones and Dias but I think he's been the best defender this year. And yeah, I probably would go as far as saying he’s been City's best-ever January signing, I think you'd be hard-pushed to say he wasn't.”
Is Laporte City’s best January signings? F ollow our City Is Ours trends writer Anil Kandola on Twitter to join in on the conversation and let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
