Manchester City defender Aymeric Laporte joins Cristiano Ronaldo at Al Nassr: how much will he earn?

Yet another Europe-based player has made the move to Saudi Arabia, with Manchester City defender Aymeric Laporte swapping the Premier League for the Saudi Pro League. The French-born centre-back, who plays for Spain at international level, will join Cristiano Ronaldo, the man who started the Saudi revolution, at Al Nassr, who have paid a reported fee of around $36.1 million for his services.

Laporte loses his way at City

Laporte was once one of the first names on Pep Guardiola’s team sheet but had recently lost his place in the team, with Rubén Días, Nathan Aké and Manuel Akanji making up City’s first-choice back three as they won the European treble in 2022-23. At the start of this month, the European champions paid around $97.5 million to sign Josko Gvardiol from RB Leipzig, pushing Laporte further down the pecking order.

European clubs unable to compete with Saudi counterparts

According to The Athletic, Arsenal and Aston Villa had shown some interest in keeping the defender in the Premier League, while former employers Athletic Club, for whom he played over 200 games, had hoped to take him back to LaLiga but were unable to match his wage demands.

Laporte’s Al Nassr contract

That, of course, will be no such problem for Al Nassr, who have offered Laporte a deal worth around $27.2 million per season, which works out at more than $500,000 per week, tax-free. The 29-year old will now become one of world soccer’s highest-paid players, with Paris Saint-Germain’s Kylian Mbappé, who reportedly earns around $120 million a year, the only European-based star on a more lucrative contract.