Manchester City have reached an agreement with Lille for Ayyoub Bouaddi in a deal valued at €95m (£81.4m), with a further €5m available in performance-related bonuses. The Morocco midfielder’s expected arrival will push the club’s summer spending close to £200m, following the £116m acquisition of Elliot Anderson earlier in the transfer window.
The 18-year-old was left out of Lille’s squad for Sunday’s Ligue 1 fixture against Angers ahead of a medical at City, with the move expected to be formally completed within the next few days.
Primarily used as a defensive midfielder, Bouaddi featured from the start in five of Morocco’s six matches at this summer’s World Cup, including their 2-0 quarter-final loss to France. He has made only eight senior international appearances. Bouaddi first played for Lille in a Conference League group-stage match in October 2023, becoming the competition’s youngest-ever player at 16 years and three days old.
Most of the money required for Bouaddi’s transfer will be covered by Rodri’s £65m move to Barcelona, which was completed last week.
Anderson, set to make his first appearance for City in Sunday’s Premier League opener against Bournemouth, is capable of playing as either a defensive or central midfielder. As a result, Bouaddi may not immediately earn a place in Enzo Maresca’s starting lineup.
City are also continuing to monitor Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernández. The London club are asking for £120m for the Argentina international, although City reportedly consider his value to be lower.
What do you feel about this post?
Like
Love
Happy
Haha
Sad
