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| Aymeric Laporte (centre) has a release clause of £36m |
PREMIER LEAGUE riches could force Athletic Bilbao to sell star centre-half Aymeric Laporte in January, according to reports in Spain.
Bilbao successfully fended off interest in Laporte from a host of clubs this summer, having set the defender's buy-out clause at £36million (€50m).
The fee was enough to prevent reported suitors Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal from plundering the Liga club.
But Mundo Deportivo claim Bilbao may be unable to stop the player moving in January because of the financial resources available to those three English sides which stem from TV broadcasting rights.
Liga bosses are considering a change in the way domestic TV revenue is split between clubs.
Currently, Barcelona and Real Madrid negotiate a larger share of the pie, which hampers the finances of the other 18 clubs.
But in the Premier League every team gets an equal share of what will be a £1.67bn-a-year deal with Sky Sports and BT Sports from next season.
And the Spanish newspaper claim Laporte could be the latest export to leave Spain for England because of the gulf in domestic revenues.
United were touted as keen suitors of 21-year-old Laporte but focused on signing striker Anthony Martial on transfer deadline day.
They paid £36m up front for Monaco 19-year-old Martial - the same value as Laporte.
It was understood the club were unwilling to meet Bilbao's clause but could move for him come January or next summer.
Meanwhile, Chelsea failed to land a top-rated centre-back this summer and are said to be considering their options with a January switch in mind.
They missed out on John Stones - despite offering £34m for the Everton ace - and Laporte is one of four men who is understood to be on Jose Mourinho's radar.
As for Arsenal, the Gunners were the only team in the top five leagues in Europe not to sign an outfield player this summer and it is unclear if that policy will change come January.
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