Athletic Bilbao president Jon Uriarte says they were close to re-signing Aymeric Laporte.

The former Manchester City defender left for Al-Nassr last week.

Uriarte revealed: “The relationship with AymericIt comes from afar, for a long time.

"His son was born here, when he was injured we allowed him to recover in our facilities in Lezama and on a trip to Manchester we had lunch with him. It was a very relaxed meal.

"He has always told us that he loves Athletic and that he would love to play here again. First he wanted to settle his future at City. As the season progressed, he changed his plans. We were unlucky that the club from Saudi Arabia broke in. Then there is also the decision of your source entity.

"We could not enter into the bid with them, with the Arabian clubs. If Al-Nassr hadn't broken in, Laporte would be here."