Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has hailed defender Aymeric Laporte as the best left-sided centre back in the world, after he returned from injury to help his side beat Sheffield United on Tuesday.

The 25-year-old was instrumental in helping City to win the league last season, and has been sorely missed as Liverpool have seemingly run away with the title this time around. It’s fair to say Laporte being out injured after suffering a knee injury in August has played a big part in this.

However, the defender finally made his comeback against the Blades, playing 80 minutes as City battled hard to win 1-0.

City have been forced into playing several make-shift defensive partnerships in order to compensate for Laporte’s absence, and it’s clear Guardiola is happier than anyone at his return to fitness.

“It’s incredible,” Guardola said.

“We have missed him a lot, he’s the best left central defender in the world. Imagine the best teams in the world lose their best central defender. We miss him a lot because he’s a specialist left foot where our buildup. He is fast, strong in the air.”

“He has something that we don’t have in the squad. His left foot and many actions to build up to make it quicker and better – we don’t have it, not because the other ones are not good but he has the only left foot as a central defender and for the way we want to play that is so important. His character and mentality and winning, he has all the attributes. For me, when he is fit he is the best left central defender in the world.”

[Quotes via NBC Sports]