Manchester City Negotiates 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, well aware of the market they’re dealing in and the demand for elite midfield controllers, are understood to value the 18-year-old at around 100 million euros (£85.6m).

It is a huge fee for a teenager, but Bouaddi has been playing and performing like anything but a prospect.

The midfielder arrived on the global stage at this summer’s World Cup, starting five of Morocco’s six matches in a run to the quarter-finals. That tournament followed a breakout 2024 in which he shone in Lille’s Champions League victory over Real Madrid, a performance that turned him from a name on scouting reports into a priority target for Europe’s biggest clubs.

City now want him to be the heartbeat of their next midfield.

Bouaddi operates as a deep-lying conductor, dictating tempo from the base of midfield and knitting together defence and attack with his passing range and calm on the ball. City see him as a stylistic fit for their possession-heavy game and a player who can grow into the role vacated by Rodri.

His arrival would dovetail with summer signing Elliot Anderson, who offers a different profile. Anderson is comfortable as a box-to-box midfielder and has experience in the number six role he plays for England, giving Pep Guardiola the option to pair a roaming runner with Bouaddi’s metronomic control.

For someone still in his teens, Bouaddi already carries the experience of a seasoned professional. He has made 88 appearances for Lille since his debut in October 2023, which came just three days after his 16th birthday. Last season he helped drive the French club to a third-place finish in Ligue 1, anchoring a side that mixed youth with ambition.

If City and Lille can close the gap on valuation and final details in the coming days, the Premier League champions will be betting big that the next decade of their midfield can be built around an 18-year-old who already looks at home on the biggest stages.