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Man City sign Athletic Bilbao’s defender Laporte for 65mn euros
London, Jan 30 (IANS) English football giants Manchester City strengthened their defence after completing the 65 million euro ($80.9m) signing of Athletic Club Bilbao’s French defender Aymeric Laporte on Tuesday.
The 23-year-old is set to join Pep Guardiola-coached side on contract until 2023 after the Manchester giants bought out his release clause form the Basque club, reports Efe.
“I am very happy to be here. City are a club with a lot of ambition and they are one of the best teams in Europe,” said the French defender in a statement relayed by the English club.
“I am looking forward to working under Pep Guardiola and trying to help the club achieve success,” he added.
Laporte scored 10 goals in his 222 appearances for Athletic Bilbao.
Guardiola said Laporte, who is set to wear the number 14 shirt, could start playing with the Sky Blues straight away.
“He’s played since a young age in La Liga, so at a high level. He’s strong in the air and fast. He’s got good quality and we are delighted,” Guardiola said of the club’s latest purchase.
The Catalan coach also announced that the club’s German winger Leroy Sané would be sidelined for up to six weeks with an ankle ligament injury sustained during the FA Cup tie against Cardiff City.
–IANS
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Sunil Gavaskar gives his opinion of GT allrounder Rahul Tewatia
The left-handed batsman from Haryana is garnering praise from all quarters for the way he’s finishing games regularly in the most exciting IPL season.
Gavaskar reckons Tewatia’s whirlwind knock in Sharjah (in IPL 2020) where he smashed West Indies pacer Sheldon Cottrell for five sixes in an over, gave him the confidence that he belongs to the big stage.
Speaking on Cricket Live on Star Sports, Gavaskar said, “That assault on Sheldon Cottrell in Sharjah gave him the belief to do the impossible and the confidence that he belongs here. We saw the impossible (he did with the bat) the other day as well. There’s no twitching or touching the pads (which shows a batter’s nervousness) when he bats in the death overs. He just waits for the ball to be delivered and plays his shots. He’s got all the shots in the book, but most importantly his temperament to stay cool in a crisis is brilliant.”
Gavaskar has also nicknamed the 28-year-old cricketer the ‘ice-man’ and lauded Tewatia’s ability to remain unruffled during the tense moments.