Manchester City step up chase for Lille wonderkid Bouaddi

Manchester City have emerged as the frontrunners in the race to sign Lille’s teenage midfield sensation Ayyoub Bouaddi, with the club understood to be pushing hard to get a deal over the line this summer.

The 18-year-old, who only recently committed his international future to Morocco having previously represented France at youth level, produced a string of eye-catching performances during the World Cup that turned heads across Europe.

His composed display against a Brazilian midfield built around Casemiro and Bruno Guimarães was widely regarded as one of the standout individual showings of the tournament’s opening round, and it appears City have accelerated efforts to bring him to the Etihad.

Sources close to the club suggest City have been monitoring Bouaddi for well over a year, but his exploits on the biggest stage have hardened their resolve to act now rather than risk losing him to a rival.

Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea, Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain have all been credited with interest at various points, though reports indicate City are currently best placed to win the race.

Lille demanding premium fee for prized asset

Unsurprisingly, Lille are in no rush to sell one of the most sought-after young talents in Europe. The French club are believed to value Bouaddi at close to £85 million, a figure club chairman Olivier Létang has reportedly pointed to City’s own record-breaking deal for Elliot Anderson as justification for.

That £116 million move, completed with Nottingham Forest earlier this summer, has effectively reset the market for elite young English and European midfield talent, and Lille appear intent on using it as leverage.

There is also a structural wrinkle to any deal. Lille have signalled they would be open to Bouaddi joining a new club this summer only to be loaned straight back to the Stade Pierre-Mauroy for the 2026-27 season, a scenario that would reportedly bring the fee down closer to £65-70 million.

City, however, are said to prefer integrating the midfielder into Enzo Maresca’s squad immediately rather than waiting another year, even if that means paying closer to the top end of Lille’s valuation.

Bouaddi already has more than 100 senior appearances to his name across Ligue 1, the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League, despite not yet turning 19.

That level of experience at such a young age is understood to be a significant factor in City’s thinking, with the club keen to add a genuine long-term option in the deeper midfield areas as they continue reshaping the squad under Maresca.

The teenager’s stock has risen sharply amid uncertainty over the futures of Nico González and Tijjani Reijnders, both of whom have been the subject of transfer speculation of their own in recent weeks. Should City lose either player, the urgency to land a like-for-like replacement with genuine long-term potential would only increase.

For now, no agreement has been reached, and Lille are said to be relaxed about the timeline, insisting they are under no financial pressure to sell.

But with City’s interest showing no signs of cooling and Bouaddi’s value continuing to climb, a decision on his future is expected to come into focus in the coming weeks as the transfer window edges closer to its most active phase.