They’re calling double standards.
Manchester City are on the verge of signing Athletic Bilbao defender Aymeric Laporte, according to reports.
The runaway leaders in the Premier League are looking to make reinforcements as they chase a quadruple, still competing in the four major competitions. With their biggest weakness being central defence, they are looking to sign Laporte as a long-term investment for the future.
The 23-year-old has a £57m buyout clause that City are willing to trigger and with the huge wages City are set to offer him, he will be a very expensive investment, albeit one highly likely to pay off.
However, this has angered some Manchester United fans.
United have of course just signed Alexis Sánchez from Arsenal with Henrikh Mkhitaryan going the other way. As Sánchez only had 6 months remaining on his contract, the transfer fee was substantially lower than his talent is worth. Many reports in the media therefore included the wages that United would be paying the Chilean throughout his contract when reporting on the financial aspect of the deal.
United fans have pointed out that this isn’t the case regarding Laporte, calling double standards and bias.
Do they have a point?
https://twitter.com/pogbaguvnorUTD/status/956088568920854528
No wages, agent fees and bonuses added to this deal though. 😊 https://t.co/mfUNBhRcZi
— Babanla (@biolakazeem) January 24, 2018
Hi @GuillemBalague can you please let me know how much wage Laporte is getting including the bonuses? his signing on fee and his agents fees? Thanks!
— You-Nigh-Ted! (@Iffy_aka_Giggs) January 24, 2018
https://twitter.com/HoltieMUFC/status/956265787463004162
If it were to be @ManUtd signing Laporte, @GuillemBalague and other anti United press will come up with astronomical wage bills, agent fees, bonuses, image rights etc to discredit the deal. Look at how this was mentioned as if he is coming to play for charity. https://t.co/mZXK9tYEYl
— Oluwaseyi A. Adelabu (@oluwaseyi_lani) January 24, 2018
Man City signing Aymeric Laporte for £143,030,500
Fee: £57m
Add ons: £20m
Wages: £36m (£150k pw 5 yrs)
Image rights: £20m (5 yrs)
Agent fees: £10m
Travel Costs: £20,000
Medical cost: £10,000
English lessons: £500Must be Money &Class?
— Shaheer Rana (@ShaheerRana1) January 25, 2018
The transfer market is already inflated enough, if all transfers were reported like this, the numbers would be even more mind-boggling.
