PARIS (AP) - Aymeric Laporte, a key member of Manchester City’s Premier League title-winning team, might finally get to play his first game for France next month.
The center back was included in a 23-man squad named by the world champions on Thursday for upcoming European Championship qualifiers against Albania and Andorra.
Laporte was signed by City for 65 million euros ($80 million) from Spanish club Athletic Bilbao in January 2018, making him at the time the second most expensive defender in soccer history. He is the first-choice center back at City.
But, at 25, he still hasn’t played a game for France’s senior team, only receiving one call-up to the squad in 2017. He has played for France’s youth teams.
There was also a first call-up for Lille forward Jonathan Ikoné.
___
More AP soccer: https://apnews.com/apf-Soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
Please read our comment policy before commenting.