Manchester City Near €100m Deal for Bouaddi Amid Rebuild

Manchester City have struck a deal worth up to €100m with Lille for Morocco midfielder Ayyoub Bouaddi, a move that underlines the scale of Enzo Maresca’s midfield rebuild after Rodri’s departure.

City will pay €95m (£81.4m) up front, with a further €5m in potential add-ons. Once completed, Bouaddi’s arrival will push the club’s summer outlay towards the £200m mark, following the £116m signing of Elliot Anderson earlier in the window.

Bouaddi, just 18, was withdrawn from Lille’s Ligue 1 fixture against Angers on Sunday as the move accelerated. He is expected to undergo a medical with City before the transfer is made official in the coming days.

A deep-lying midfielder who operates primarily as a No 6, Bouaddi has risen at breakneck speed. He started five of Morocco’s six matches at this summer’s World Cup, including the 2-0 quarter-final defeat by France, despite having only eight senior caps to his name.

His club career has moved just as quickly. Bouaddi made his Lille debut in an October 2023 Conference League group game and, at 16 years and three days, became the youngest footballer ever to appear in the competition.

The bulk of City’s outlay on Bouaddi will be covered by the £65m sale of Rodri to Barcelona, completed last week. The Spaniard’s exit has ripped out the core of City’s midfield and forced a rapid reshaping of Maresca’s options at the base of the team.

Anderson, who can play as either a No 6 or No 8, starts City’s Premier League opener against Bournemouth on Sunday and offers immediate versatility. Bouaddi, by contrast, may be eased in rather than thrown straight into Maresca’s first-choice XI, with City mindful of his age and the leap in expectation.

City’s recruitment drive in midfield may not stop there. The club remain keen on Chelsea’s Enzo Fernández, but any move would be complicated. Chelsea value the Argentina international at £120m, a figure City are understood to view as too high at this stage.

Maresca has his new anchor on the way. Whether City go back to test Chelsea’s resolve for Fernández will say plenty about how far this reshaping of the champions is prepared to go.