Manchester City Negotiating to Sign Ayyoub Bouaddi from Lille
Manchester City are in advanced negotiations with Lille to sign Morocco midfielder Ayyoub Bouaddi, as they move quickly to reshape their midfield after agreeing to sell Rodri to Barcelona.
City want the deal wrapped up this week. Lille, though, are driving a hard bargain. The French club value the 18-year-old at 100 million euros (£85.6m), a fee that reflects both his rapid rise and the level he has already reached.
Bouaddi is not a prospect in the vague, distant sense. He is already a central figure for club and country. He made his Lille debut in October 2023, just three days after turning 16, and has since racked up 88 appearances, helping the side finish third in Ligue 1 last season. That workload at his age underlines why Europe’s elite have been tracking him so closely.
The wider world really took notice in 2024. Bouaddi’s performance in Lille’s Champions League victory over Real Madrid thrust him into the spotlight, his composure on the ball and authority in tight spaces standing out against one of Europe’s most decorated midfields. That display set the tone for what followed.
This summer’s World Cup confirmed the impression. Trusted on the biggest stage, Bouaddi started five of Morocco’s six matches in a run to the quarter-finals, dictating tempo from deep and showing the same calm, metronomic style that has become his trademark in France.
City view him as a deep-lying conductor, the player to set the rhythm from the base of midfield. His profile is designed to dovetail with summer signing Elliot Anderson, who brings more of a box-to-box energy but can also operate as a number six, the role he fills for England. The idea is clear: a midfield rebuilt around versatility and control rather than a like-for-like Rodri replacement.
If City and Lille can close the gap on valuation in the coming days, an 18-year-old who already looks at home on the Champions League and World Cup stages could be asked to anchor the next phase of Pep Guardiola’s midfield.
