Manchester City have signed French defender Aymeric Laporte in a club-record deal.

The 23-year old joins the Premier League leaders after putting pen to paper on a five-and-a-half year deal until 2023 after the Citizens activated his £57m release clause.

The centre-back becomes Manchester City’s club-record signing ahead of the £55m paid for Kevin De Bruyne in the summer of 2015.

In his farewell via Athletic Bilbao’s official website, Laporte said: ‘So much to say with so few lines.

‘I want to thank everybody for what you have given me. I arrived as an adolescent and I have been formed here as a person and as a footballer.

‘I don’t want my exit, ahead of a new challenge in my career, to be a “goodbye”, but rather a “see you soon”. I am leaving a unique club, I will never forget it. For all of that, thank you!’ he added.

Aside becoming Manchester City’s club-record signing, Laporte is also the second most expensive defender ever behind the £75m deal that took Virgil van Dijk from Southampton to Liverpool earlier in the current transfer window.