Athletic Bilbao defender Aymeric Laporte has revealed that he turned down the chance to join Manchester City and Chelsea during the summer transfer window.

The 23-year-old is a regular in the football gossip columns, repeatedly being linked with a move to some of European football's biggest names.

Former France Under-21s international Laporte has confirmed that there was concrete interest from elsewhere during the off-season, but he opted to stay at San Mames for at least another year.

Asked by L'Equipe about the links to City and Chelsea, he said: "I had the chance to leave but I did not feel it. Also because I was injured and did not want to leave so. Chelsea's interest? I can not say anything, it's a personal thing."

Laporte, a part of the Bilbao setup since 2010, has featured in all eight of the club's La Liga games so far in 2017-18.