Manchester City remain interested in signing Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez despite agreeing an £86m deal for Lille star Ayyoub Bouaddi, according to The Guardian.
The Premier League champions have already strengthened their midfield this summer, with the £86m capture of Bouaddi following the £116m signing of England's Elliot Anderson from Nottingham Forest. The moves came after manager Enzo Maresca urged his bosses to get busy during the transfer window following the Community Shield defeat to Arsenal and Rodri's £65m move to Barcelona.
Bouaddi deal agreed
Bouaddi, who made just shy of 100 appearances for Lille, attracted interest from Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea before the World Cup. He helped Morocco reach the quarter-finals of the tournament before they were knocked out by France.
Man City won the race to sign the 18-year-old after agreeing a deal worth €95m (£81.4m) plus €5m in potential add-ons.
Fernandez interest remains
Despite strengthening Maresca's midfield with Bouaddi, Man City are still interested in Fernandez. The Argentina World Cup finalist made it clear he wanted to leave Stamford Bridge earlier in the summer, but a dream move to Real Madrid failed to materialise.
Fernandez is also interested in a move to Man City, where he would reunite with ex-Chelsea boss Maresca. However, Chelsea want £120m for the midfielder, while Man City value him at a lower figure.
Shaky start to the season
Manchester City's midfield looked shaky in their Premier League opener against Bournemouth, but Maresca's side came from behind to clinch a late 2-1 win. Marcus Tavernier gave Bournemouth a first-half lead and looked set to have earned the Cherries an opening-day win before Marc Guehi and Josko Gvardiol scored late goals for City.
Matchwinner Gvardiol said: 'Everyone is proud in the moment, it's the opening game of the season and we know how important it is, especially with all the changes we've had in the previous weeks. We need to enjoy this, we deserve it and I'm happy with the three points.'
