Manchester City defender, Aymeric Laporte has switched his international allegiance from France to Spain ahead of coming Euro 2020 to take place these summer.
Laporte, 26, has previously played for the France Under-21 international team but has never represented the senior side which make him eligible to represent the Spanish senior team.
FIFA confirmed on Friday that Laporte switches allegiance and the switch had been approved after the French Football Federation consented to the Royal Spanish Football Federation’s request, meaning Laporte is available to feature for Spain from next month.
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Laporte’s international background
The 26-year-old was born in Agen, France, and therefore qualified for the French national team.
He is also of Basque descent through his great-grandparents and rose up the ranks at Athletic Bilbao, making him eligible to also represent Spain.
Laporte played for France’s youth teams from under-17 to under-21 level. He was also called up to the France national team for World Cup qualifiers against Bulgaria and Holland in October 2016 but he never featured in any of the matches.
He was not used by national team manager Didier Deschamps, however, which meant he remained able to switch allegiances. The same occurred in August 2019, when he was called up for Euro 2020 qualifiers but had to pull out due to an injury.
