CALMING KOMPANY

Laporte: He’s perfect ‘big’ captain for title fight Inspirational star is always there for all of us

AYMERIC LAPORTE has revealed how super-skipper Vincent Kompany is driving Manchester City to the title.

As the screw turns, the magic for Pep Guardiola and his title-chasing team might be coming from Bernardo Silva, Raheem Sterling, Leroy Sane and Sergio Aguero, in terms of goals and assists.

But £57million French centre-back Laporte, 24, is in no doubt that the motivation to win back-to-back titles is being drilled into City’s stars by their captain.

Kompany has been there, done it and got the title T-shirt three times already after lifting the trophy in 2012, 2014 and 2018.

No one currently in the Premier League knows better than the 33-year-old Belgium defender what it takes to turn dreams into reality at this stage of the campaign.

And Laporte says the Etihad veteran is providing the vital championship winning know-how in the race with Liverpool that’s going down to the wire.

“He’s a BIG captain – fantastic on and off the pitch. He’s a very good person for improving all of the team.

“And his message is simple – always we must fight until the very end, the very last kick,” said Laporte. “If we make some mistakes, then

He’s just so good, he’s won many titles and hopefully I can play more games with him

don’t worry. We just have to keep going. Have confidence in ourselves, be brave and play with courage. But fight to the very end – that is what he demands.”

Kompany has played only 21 games all season since leading out the team in the Community Shield against Chelsea in August.

But Guardiola has started the influential Belgian in three of City’s last four games, with the Spaniard knowing exactly the impact Kompany has on the dressing room when it’s win or bust.

And Laporte is desperate to play alongside his captain more, after admitting Kompany makes him a better player. “He makes me improve a lot myself when I play with him. He’s just so good.

“He’s won so many titles and played many games at the very top level and, hopefully, I can play more games with him because he’s a fantastic player.

“On the pitch, he helps me through games, always talking and advising what positions I should take up at certain moments and what will be better.

“That’s why he’s such a great captain – he helps everyone around him.

“Off the pitch, he has the experience to help players when they need something.

“He helped me settle in at City and was always there if I needed help or advice.”

When City paid almost £60m to Athletic Bilbao for Laporte in the January window last year, it wasn’t just in the Premier League where the fee was questioned.

It raised eyebrows in Spain and his native France, where he has yet to win a senior international cap, despite playing for every age team from Under-17s to U-21s. At the time, it was a record fee for both clubs.

But no one’s questioning the outlay now. It was millions well spent by Guardiola and City’s money-men. For Laporte has arguably developed into one of the

Premier League’s top-three centre-backs, with Liverpool star Virgil van Dijk and Tottenham’s Jan Vertonghen. No surprise then that he made the

PFA’s Team of the

Year, having recently kept Nicolas Otamendi and

John Stones out of the City side.

But, like his captain, Laporte isn’t carried away after beating rivals Manchester United.

He said: “Maybe that was the biggest challenge in terms of games left to play, but we have to win the other three to be champions.

“The important thing is that it is in our hands now. We have to look to ourselves to keep going. Then we can say it’s been a great achievement.”