He couldn't hold back his tears.
That day in September 2016, when he learned that his son was called by Didier Deschamps to join the great French team, Lionel Laporte was overcome with emotion.
A mixture of joy and pride.
This day was supposed to mark the beginning of a beautiful story between Aymeric Laporte and the Blues.
But the story will come to an end.
Or more exactly will never really have existed.
A little less than five years after this moment, her son decided to definitely turn his back on the France team, on France.
Last week the Manchester City center-back, soon to be 27 (he was born on May 27, 1994), obtained Spanish nationality - he is said to have a Spanish grandparent - and is therefore eligible to wear the shirt of La Roja. Unless surprised, he should appear in the list of 23 (or 26) of Luis Enrique, the breeder who seems to be at the origin of this request for naturalization. It is not however certain that his father, this time, sheds a tear. "I'm happy for him but for me his country remains France ..." he told us over the phone last week.
The matter is delicate, sensitive.
Why one of the best central defenders in Europe, regularly called up to the youth team with the Bleuets and even appointed captain of the under-19s during the Euro of the category in 2013, he decided to engage under the red tunic?
“It's not a surprise to me, he's been talking about it for a long time, I remember he said he had that choice when he was with us,” recalls Pierre Mankowski, his coach with the Espoirs.
I think he always had an attraction and a preference for France but the context ended up causing the choice of Spain where the coach wants.
He played for a long time
(Editor's note: with Athletic Bilbao)
before joining Manchester City.
"
Summoned three times to Clairefontaine between 2016 and 2019
City is also coached by a Spaniard - Pep Guardiola - who recruited him for 65 million euros in 2018. No coincidence
.
"By his ability to accelerate the pace, to dominate in the air, to participate in the construction, he is an exceptional player, said Guardiola in 2020. He is the best left-handed central defender in the world. "
The French staff is not insensitive either to the qualities of Laporte who, since his young years, has been promised a career in blue.
Didier Deschamps also summoned him three times to Clairefontaine between 2016 and 2019. In March 2017 he could even have obtained his first cape against Spain.
The turning point dates from August 2019. “DD” plans to offer him a starting place in at least one of the two qualifying matches for Euro 2020 but the player is injured shortly before.
His luck has passed.
The door is definitely closed.
Didier Deschamps summoned Aymeric Laporte three times for the French team between 2016 and 2019. LP / Arnaud Journois
The story between France and the native of Agen ultimately resembles a succession of missed appointments, of misunderstandings.
Detected at 14 by Laurent Strzelczak,
then a recruiter for the Athletic Bilbao club, Laporte spent a season at the Bayonne club before packing his bags, at 16, for Spain.
"
I remember a nice boy, very talented technically and physically ahead of the others," says Jean-Pierre Mainard, director of the football section of Aviron Bayonnais.
Bilbao placed him with us because the law prevented him from playing before he turned 16 in Spain.
His goal was the France team but the circumstances made him change his mind.
"
A strong character but also a big heart
The circumstances - a defensive sector already well supplied with the Blues unlike Spain where its place seems indisputable - and also its character. His solitary behavior and an assertive ego were indeed not unanimous among the Blues, players and staff. In 2018, Laporte, not selected for the World Cup, responds to the “open letter” of Adrien Rabiot, which explains his refusal to be a substitute for the France team, with emoticons of applause. The tweet goes badly at the FFF ...
A strong character but also a big heart. “He's a nice boy,” says Strzelczak. Last year, during an auction, he discreetly bought an outfit from boxer Alexis Vastine who tragically died in 2015, to return it to the family of the tragically deceased champion. He regularly engages against racism, against violence or against the Super League project. After the death of Christophe Revault, he tweeted: “Very sad to hear this… A friend of my father and a lovely person. A thought to his family and loved ones. "
“He has an ego like many athletes of this level, relativizes Pierre Mankowski.
But he always considered that this lack of recognition in France was not fair.
When he arrived with the Espoirs he was already a star in Bilbao and Spain but here he was a stranger.
Even today, it has a very good rating in Spain, much more than in France.
He probably had a bad time with this shift.
He was very individualistic but he was always very nice, easy going, hard worker.
But he didn't understand being a replacement… ”
"Deep down, he would have liked to play for France"
It is on the other side of the Pyrenees, in the Spanish Basque Country, that he forged this personality. "In Bilbao, he was in French high school but it was not easy to find himself alone at 16 in a foreign country," says Laurent Strzelczak, who has never broken contact with Laporte. The training center was far from the city center. There was a lot of competition. The other young people did not give him gifts because they had the impression that Aymeric was coming to take their place. He knew where he wanted to go. He's not an extrovert but you had to be tough to get by. "
Regularly, at the end of the week, Strzelczak received a phone call from his young protégé to come get him and bring him back to Agen.
This saved him a trip between bus and train to go from Bilbao to Agen via Saint-Jean-de-Luz.
Sometimes young Aymeric slept with the Strzelczaks, in the children's bed.
But his determination was unwavering.
His talent and his desire to go as high as possible allow him to be in the pro squad of Athletic from the age of 18.
In 2015, he won the Spanish Supercup and his name is already circulating to join La Roja.
He still sees himself only dressed in blue.
Team work 💙 https://t.co/QDY4h7DhxI
- Aymeric Laporte (@Laporte) April 25, 2021
In 2018 he joined Manchester City and became one of the most expensive defenders in history.
He has built up a sizeable track record, notably with 3 English championship titles.
Although he is less used this season due to the strong competition for his position, his aura remains intact in Spain.
His horizon in blue being blocked, this born competitor gave in to the Spanish sirens who will allow him to realize his dreams of greatness.
“Deep down he would have liked to play for France but he's such a competitor that he especially wants to play as high as possible, which Spain offers him,” says Strzelczak.
His choice is understandable.
We are proud of his career but it would annoy me to see Spain win in the final against France.
"
