Ten days to Deadline
© Imago
A return from Aymeric Laporte (31) to Athletic Bilbao was considered failed, and all the necessary signatures were set. Now there is still the U -turn. On Thursday, the Spanish club confirmed that there is a good end to the Basque and the player in the struggle for the own family. Laporte receives a contract until 2028.
FIFA had at the beginning of the month of the sports newspaper “Marca“Confirmed that the documents were not submitted on time in the transfer matching system that is used for all transfer business worldwide. This could not be registered for the Laliga club. After hard negotiations, al-Nassr is said to have been too late. Transfer certificate (ITC) from the Saudi Arabian Association for Laporte.
Finally, it was said that FIFA had examined the reason for the delay in order to save the situation in favor of the player. However, there was no explanation that would make an exception. Al-Nassr is said to have submitted the documents too late, which is why the transfer was not approved. Previously, the talks between the clubs had dragged on until the last minutes of the Deadline Day. Bilbao initially did not share any further background to the new decision on Thursday. According to “Marca”, it was possible to demonstrate that the error was solely with Al-Nassr. A transfer of 10 million euros should now flow.
Laporte, who had long signed the three-year contract with his ex-club, had to leave Bilbao again without being done. The situation was reminiscent of David de Gea’s (34) switch to Real Madrid in summer 2015, who then stayed with Manchester United for eight years. Even then, the documents only received shortly after midnight. Unlike the goalkeeper in Manchester, Laporte had no great prospect of season in Saudi Arabia.
The defense routine was not registered by the Clistiano Ronaldo club (40) club for the Saudi Pro League, so it could only have been used in the AFC Champions League Two. The “Marca” speculated that disagreements between the laporte and al-Nassr could have caused the documents submitted too late. The 40-time Spanish international went to Saudi Arabia for 27.5 million euros for 27.5 million euros and has been playing 69 games (nine goals) since then. In January 2018, Laporte had left the Basque for 65 million euros in the direction of MAN City – the second highest transfer income until today.
Note: This article was first published on September 3, 2025 and was updated on September 11, 2025 after the confirmation of Bilbaos.