Manchester City agree €100m deal for Ayyoub Bouaddi

Manchester City have reached an agreement in principle worth 100m euros (£86m) to sign 18-year-old Lille midfielder Ayyoub Bouaddi, in one of the most eye-catching moves of the summer window.

Talks between the clubs accelerated in recent days, with BBC Sport revealing earlier this week that negotiations were at an advanced stage for the Morocco international. City have now thrashed out the framework of a deal, clearing the way for Bouaddi to complete what has become a drawn-out switch to the Premier League champions.

The teenager is set to link up with Enzo Maresca’s squad once the final details are signed off and the formalities are done. For a player still in his teens, the fee underlines how aggressively City are moving to reshape the heart of their midfield.

They have had to. The departures of Rodri and Tijani Reinders ripped out two central pillars of their engine room, forcing the club to make midfield the priority area to reinforce. Bouaddi is the headline answer to that problem, a long-term investment with immediate expectations.

City are not stopping there. They remain keen on Chelsea’s Enzo Fernandez, a very different profile but another high-end option for Maresca. Whether Chelsea can be persuaded to do business is another question entirely.

For now, Bouaddi’s looming arrival signals where City are heading: younger, expensive, and built to dominate the middle of the pitch for years, not just seasons.