Manchester City Signs Ayyoub Bouaddi for €95m
Manchester City have made their big midfield move, landing Ayyoub Bouaddi from Lille in a deal worth €95m (£81.4m) plus a further €5m in add-ons, and handing the teenager a five-year contract.
The 18-year-old will not be eased in. He goes straight into Enzo Maresca’s squad for Friday night’s trip to Crystal Palace, the latest step in a rise that has moved at breakneck speed.
From Lille prodigy to City’s midfield project
Bouaddi became Lille’s youngest-ever player when he featured against KÍ Klaksvík on 5 October 2023, just three days after his 16th birthday. Two years on, the Morocco international already has 96 senior appearances behind him and a heavyweight Premier League move on his CV.
“I am happy with the progress I have made so far, but I also know I can improve so much,” Bouaddi said. “This is undoubtedly the best place for me to do that. This club demands trophies and I will give everything to make sure we are challenging for every title.”
City see him as far more than a prospect. Hugo Viana, the club’s director of football, did not hold back in his assessment.
“Ayyoub’s potential is extremely high – a player equipped with everything a top midfielder needs,” Viana said. “At just 18, he already has outstanding football intelligence and that will only improve under the guidance of Enzo.”
Used mainly as a No 6 at Lille, Bouaddi arrives as the latest piece in a sweeping rebuild of City’s engine room. Nico González is set to become the fourth frontline central midfielder to depart this summer, following Rodri, Bernardo Silva and Tijjani Reijnders out of the door.
City have moved aggressively to reshape that area. Bouaddi joins Elliott Anderson, signed from Nottingham Forest for £116m, and the club are expected to turn long-standing interest in Chelsea’s Enzo Fernández into a formal bid. Chelsea value the Argentina midfielder at £120m.
Marmoush out, Spurs’ “bomba” finally lands
Bouaddi’s signing comes on the back of two major outgoing deals. City have agreed to loan Omar Marmoush to Tottenham for the season, with an obligation to buy for an initial £50m. Nico González, meanwhile, is being sold to Newcastle for £52m.
Marmoush will undergo a medical at Spurs, who have committed to up to £10m in add-ons, half of which are guaranteed. Next summer, the 27-year-old is due to sign a four-year contract with an option for a further year.
City will not owe a sell-on fee to Eintracht Frankfurt, the club they bought the Egyptian forward from in January 2025. For them, it is a clean exit. For Spurs, it is the centre-forward upgrade Roberto De Zerbi has been pushing for.
Tottenham have already taken Sávio from City in a £75m deal that could rise by £10m, and City have lined up Palmeiras forward Allan Elias for £34m as the Brazilian’s replacement out wide.
De Zerbi has been blunt about his need for more firepower. Dominic Solanke and Richarlison have battled inconsistency and fitness problems, and the Italian coach has wanted a different level of threat through the middle.
At the end of July, he teased a “bomba” attacking signing – a top-tier addition. In truth, he has ended up with two. Sávio and Marmoush fit that billing, even if they have arrived later than he hoped. De Zerbi admitted negotiations for Sávio began just three days after last season ended, a long pursuit he believes will pay off.
Spurs’ summer spending reflects that urgency. They have laid out £304.5m on Jan Paul van Hecke, Sandro Tonali, Mateus Fernandes and Sávio, while also bringing in Martin Dubravka, Andy Robertson and Marcos Senesi on free transfers.
City, meanwhile, are betting that an 18-year-old No 6 with 96 senior games can help anchor a new-look midfield in a season where there will be no hiding places.
