Rio Ferdinand has admitted he is 'so gutted' that Manchester United failed to sign Ayyoub Bouaddi, who joined Manchester City for £86m over the summer. The Morocco international moved to the Etihad Stadium on a five-year contract, becoming the Premier League's most expensive teenager.
Manchester City targeted the 19-year-old after selling Ballon d'Or winner Rodri to Barcelona and fellow midfielder Tijani Reinders to Al-Qadsiah. Bouaddi has already shown glimpses of his immense potential at his new club.
Champions League Cameo
Ferdinand was particularly impressed by Bouaddi's second-half cameo in last week's Champions League defeat to PSG. Speaking on his YouTube channel, Ferdinand said: 'Did you see when Ayyoub Bouaddi came on? This is why I was talking about him over the last year and during the summer transfer window.'
'He came on and showed PSG that they may have missed out on someone who was on their doorstep when he was playing in France. He turned 19 this month, right? His transfer fee is the same as [Andrey] Santos and [Youri] Tielemans combined. Manchester United were in for him, 100%, but the fee was just too much.'
Ferdinand's Frustration
Ferdinand added: 'Just that little cameo against PSG makes you go, "oh, I can't believe we missed out on that. I can't believe it." I'm so gutted, so gutted. He's bad! He's so calm under pressure.'
'Man City have got that many games that they can share the load about. Because of his age you can just dip him in and out but sooner rather than later that's not going to fly with him because he's an incredible footballer. They've got Elliot Anderson and Enzo Fernandez in that midfield as well but this kid could be the best of the three, easily.'
Full Debut
Following his impressive impact against European champions PSG, Bouaddi played the entire 90 minutes of Manchester City's win over Ipswich Town on Saturday.
