Manchester City are closing in on the signing of Ayyoub Bouaddi from Lille, with the deal expected to be completed in the coming days. City will pay an initial £81.4m for the Morocco international midfielder, with a further £4.3m potentially due in bonuses.
Bouaddi deal faces early deadline
City are confident of completing the Bouaddi transfer after agreeing a fee with Lille. The Moroccan teenager has been involved in Lille's pre-season after returning from his summer rest following the World Cup, so he could come straight into Enzo Maresca's squad ahead of their next league game.
However, the deadline for the deal has been moved earlier for City because of the fixture schedule. New signings must be registered with the Premier League by midday on the day before a team is in action to be eligible for that match. With City playing at the earliest possible time as they take on Crystal Palace on Friday night at Selhurst Park, everything with Bouaddi's deal must be completed by Thursday morning at the latest if he is to be eligible.
Allan Elias and further incomings
Palmeiras winger Allan Elias is also expected to arrive. He has been identified as City's replacement for Savinho, who joined Tottenham on Tuesday. The deals for Bouaddi and Allan will take City's spending this summer to £250m.
Further incomings are still expected, with Chelsea's Enzo Fernandez still of interest. City are pushing for Fernandez, but Chelsea are keen to keep hold of the midfielder.
Outgoings and Grealish uncertainty
In terms of outgoings, midfielder Nico Gonzalez is edging closer to a move to Newcastle, and Omar Marmoush is also close to a loan move to Spurs. Marmoush could follow his former teammate Savinho to north London.
Meanwhile, questions still remain around Jack Grealish. He had a late cameo in the win over AFC Bournemouth on Sunday.
City could break six transfer records in the next seven days as they go bigger than they ever have before in the summer transfer window. Before the deadline shuts, City could have broken six transfer records in two weeks to add to their £116m deal for Elliot Anderson completed in July. Anderson became the club's most expensive player when he signed from Forest earlier this summer, smashing the £100m City paid for Jack Grealish in 2021. With Rodri and Bernardo Silva both departing, the club had lined up Anderson for months and were able to beat off competition from Manchester United and others to land their primary target.
Savinho's move to Tottenham Hotspur has also given the club a record sale. That honour did belong to Julian Alvarez when Atletico bought him for an initial £64m rising to £81m in 2023, but the Brazilian winger has now moved to North London for £75m rising to £85m.
