The International Football Federation (FIFA), authorized the transfer of the Franco-Spanish defender Aymeric Laporte to the Athletic Bilbao, his training club, from Al-Nassr (Saudi Arabia) on Thursday.
The club in the evening formalized the transfer with a contract binding it to Laporte until 2028.
“The Athletic Club wishes to inform that FIFA has authorized the Spanish Royal Football Federation (RFEF) to obtain the International Transfer Certificate (CTI) from the Saudi Football Federation,” wrote the current second of Liga in a statement.
This transfer, completed at the very end of the transfer window on September 1, was initially blocked by FIFA, because it had not received all the necessary documents in time.
ℹ️ Communicated on @Laporte
FIFA grants authorization to request the player’s CTI.
Once CTI is issued, the registration of Aymeric Laporte can be registered at Athletic Club.#AthleticClub 🦁
— Athletic Club (@AthleticClub) September 11, 2025
The 31 -year -old central defender, European champion in 2024 with La Roja, will try to relaunch himself in the Basque Country after losing his place in selection for the benefit of the young Dean Huijsen, recruited this summer by Real Madrid.
Athletic welcomed the player’s return to “his hometown, where he was trained as a player from the age of 15 and played 222 games” between 2012 and 2018.
After the attacking midfielder Robert Navarro and the right back Jesús Areso, Laporte is the third recruit of the team led by Ernesto Valverde for this season, where she will play the Champions League, notably against Paris SG, defending champion.
In Liga, the Basque club shares the head of the ranking with Real Madrid after winning its first three games of the season.
