Manchester City have agreed a deal with Lille worth €95m (£81.4m) plus €5m in potential add-ons for Ayyoub Bouaddi. The Morocco midfielder's arrival will take the club's summer spend to nearly £200m, following Elliot Anderson's £116m signing earlier in the window.
Bouaddi stood down from Lille match
The 18-year-old was stood down from Lille's Ligue 1 match against Angers on Sunday before a medical with City, with his transfer becoming official in the next few days.
Bouaddi, who operates mainly as a No 6, started five of Morocco's six games at the World Cup tournament this summer, including the 2-0 quarter-final defeat by France. That was only his eighth international appearance. His Lille debut came in an October 2023 Conference League group game – at 16 years and three days, it made him the youngest footballer to play in the competition.
Funding and squad impact
The majority of the fee for Bouaddi will come from the £65m sale of Rodri to Barcelona, which was sealed last week.
Anderson, who is making his debut in City's Premier League opener against Bournemouth on Sunday, can play as No 6 or No 8, so Bouaddi may not go directly into Enzo Maresca's starting XI.
City remain interested in Chelsea's Enzo Fernández, also a midfielder. The west London club want £120m for the Argentinian but City are thought to value him at a lower figure.
