Manchester City Near €100m Bouaddi Transfer as Rodri Faces Barcelona Exit
Manchester City are preparing for a seismic reshuffle at the heart of their midfield, with 18-year-old Ayyoub Bouaddi moving to the brink of a blockbuster switch from Lille and Rodri increasingly expected to depart for Barcelona.
Bouaddi, the highly rated Morocco international, has agreed personal terms with City, leaving the Premier League champions locked in talks with Lille over a fee that the French club value at around €100m (£85m). It is an extraordinary price for a teenager, but City see him as a player to build around, not stash away.
New manager Enzo Maresca wants him now, not later. His intention is to drop Bouaddi straight into the first-team squad rather than send him on loan or ease him in gently. With the Community Shield against Arsenal on Sunday and the Premier League opener at Bournemouth on 23 August, Maresca is pushing for the deal to be wrapped up in time to start shaping his new midfield on the pitch, not just on the tactics board.
The pressure at City is obvious. Bernardo Silva’s departure has stripped experience and guile from the middle of the park. Elliot Anderson, signed last month from Nottingham Forest for £116m, is one pillar of the rebuild. Bouaddi is designed to be the other. Two huge investments. Two big bets.
And one huge consequence: Rodri.
Barcelona circle for Rodri
Barcelona are increasingly confident they will prise Rodri away from the Etihad, but they have work to do. Their opening bid of €45m was rejected last week, a figure that never stood a realistic chance of shifting one of City’s most influential players of recent years.
The Catalan club know they must come back stronger. The sale of Ferran Torres, who has attracted serious interest from Paris Saint-Germain, is viewed as the key to unlocking the Rodri deal. Offload Torres, free up funds, go again for the Spaniard.
Inside City, there is a sense of inevitability. At 30, with only a year left on his contract, Rodri is edging towards the exit, and the club are described as all but resigned to losing him. The Bouaddi move is not just opportunistic; it is strategic cover for a departure that now feels like a matter of timing and price rather than possibility.
If Bouaddi does arrive as expected, City’s midfield will carry a very different look and feel: Anderson and Bouaddi in, Bernardo gone, Rodri likely to follow. Maresca’s tenure is barely under way, but the core of his team is already being ripped up and rewritten.
United move for Page as Rashford returns
Across Manchester, United are trying to ensure they are not left behind in the scramble for the next wave of talent. The club have turned their attention to Leicester teenager Louis Page, an 18-year-old midfielder who has drawn admiring glances from several top-flight sides.
United face competition from Arsenal, but there is quiet optimism at Old Trafford. Page is believed to favour a move to United, and the club are hopeful of striking a deal. In a market where elite midfielders command nine-figure sums, winning the race for a teenager of Page’s profile could prove crucial in the medium term.
On the training pitch, another subplot has taken a twist. Marcus Rashford has linked up with United’s squad at their County Kildare training camp after his post-World Cup break, stepping back into a club environment that has not always been comfortable for him in recent seasons.
The 28-year-old has spent the last season and a half on loan at Barcelona and Aston Villa, a spell away that stemmed from a breakdown in his relationship with a club executive and former head coach Ruben Amorim. That rift effectively pushed him out of the door.
Those tensions have now eased. Rashford is focused on working under Michael Carrick and re-establishing himself under a manager whose calm authority and tactical clarity have impressed the dressing room.
Yet nothing is guaranteed. With the transfer window still open, Rashford could still leave before it closes. United’s midfield plans, City’s reshuffle, Barcelona’s pursuit of Rodri – all are moving parts in a market that refuses to stand still.
