Man Metropolis signal Lille midfielder in £85.6m switch
Manchester Metropolis have signed Morocco worldwide Ayyoub Bouaddi from Lille for £85.6m on a five-year deal.
Bouaddi, 18, has grow to be the Premier League membership’s fifth signing of the summer season switch window days after fellow midfielder Rodri’s transfer to Barcelona following seven years with Metropolis.
Talking for the primary time at his new membership, the World Cup star stated: “I wouldn’t be right here with out my household, so I’m actually blissful to have them subsequent to me.
“That is additionally why I’m taking part in soccer, to make my household proud.
“I feel a very powerful factor is to have steadiness and my household and fogeys are usually not all the time [about] soccer.
“It’s all of the values that they educate me and it’s essential to maintain that.
“We have to be the identical particular person with everyone, respect everybody, be myself, be your self and simply attempt to take pleasure in life.”
Ayyoub Bouaddi: Why Metropolis made switch transfer
Bouaddi has lengthy been among the finest younger gamers in France and introduced himself on the European stage by taking part in all through their residence win over Actual Madrid in October 2024 on his Champions League debut.
With Bernardo Silva and Rodri – two of the important thing midfielders in Metropolis’s interval of dominating the Premier League below former supervisor Pep Guardiola – now gone, new Metropolis head coach Enzo Maresca is rebuilding his midfield.
The Italian is overseeing a squad in transition as he makes an attempt to show himself a worthy successor to Guardiola, who grew to become the membership’s most profitable supervisor of all time through the Spaniard’s 10 years in cost till his exit in Might.
A ball winner on the base of midfield, Bouaddi has the potential to exchange among the talents that made Rodri a four-time Premier League champion and Champions League winner with the membership, in addition to the 2024 Ballon d’Or winner and participant of the match on the World Cup 2026.
Maresca could also be planning to pair Bouaddi with 23-year-old Elliot Anderson, who arrived from Nottingham Forest for £116m in July.
The previous Chelsea supervisor is prone to have been amongst quite a few admirers of Bouaddi’s performances on the World Cup, beginning 5 of Morocco’s six matches and producing an distinctive show of their opening 1-1 draw with Brazil.
Ayyoub Bouaddi fashion of play
Lille veteran and former Arsenal and Chelsea striker Olivier Giroud calls Bouaddi “considerably reminiscent” of legendary midfielder N’Golo Kante.
“He’s calm, assured and stays himself,” Giroud instructed BBC Sport. “I used to be speaking to some buddies they usually despatched me some pictures of Patrick Vieira and Sergio Busquets. They stated he’s a mixture of each.
“Technically he’s not fairly on the stage of Sergio Busquets but, however he’s obtained the abilities. He would possibly lack the facility of Patrick.
“He’ll get stronger and larger with time however he’s already a really versatile participant. He can do all the things.
“The one factor he must work on – and he is aware of this as a result of we’ve teased him quite a bit this yr – is ending. He must be extra aggressive in entrance of objective.”
Ayyoub Bouaddi 🌟
👶 Simply 18 years outdated… #UCL pic.twitter.com/JYYlcmKw7X
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) June 17, 2026
Ayyoub Bouaddi: Arsenal miss out on switch
Reigning Premier League champions Arsenal had been one of many golf equipment linked with Bouaddi, though their 3-0 win over Metropolis within the Neighborhood Protect on August 16 – and Anderson and Mateo Kovacic’s unconvincing performances as a part of a poor Metropolis show – advised they had been much less in want of gamers in his place.
Liverpool, Manchester United, Manchester Metropolis and Bayern Munich had been additionally fascinated by Bouaddi, Metro reported on June 30.
Citing RMC Sport, the outlet stated Lille wished to promote for as much as £89m however had been keen to simply accept a decrease price if he was loaned again to them this season.
Ayyoub Bouaddi stats: Lille, Morocco
Lille’s belief in Bouaddi has allowed him to interrupt a number of age data, together with the feat of turning into the youngest participant ever in a European membership competitors sport by that includes within the Convention League three days after his sixteenth birthday in October 2023.
Seventeen days later, Bouaddi made his first look in Ligue 1 to grow to be the youngest appearance-maker within the French prime flight for 42 years.
Bouaddi signed a contract extension till 2029 in December 2025. The next month, he broke former Premier League Participant of the Season Eden Hazard’s report because the youngest participant to make 50 Ligue 1 appearances for Lille.
Morocco thought-about Bouaddi’s swap of allegiance in Might 2026 a significant coup following his appearances at youth stage for France, with their pursuit rewarded by his World Cup performances.
Listed here are a few of Bouaddi’s key stats in Ligue 1 2025/26.
| Appearances | Objectives | Assists | Duels received | Bookings | Purple playing cards |
| 42 | 0 | 1 | 204 | 9 | 2 |
When will Ayyoub Bouaddi play for Manchester Metropolis?
Right here’s how Metropolis’s first 4 fixtures of the 2026/27 season look.
| Date | Opponents | BST | ET | PT |
| Solar, Aug 23 | Bournemouth (H) | 14:00 | 09:00 | 06:00 |
| Fri, Aug 28 | Crystal Palace (A) | 20:00 | 15:00 | 12:00 |
| Sat, Sept 5 | Coventry Metropolis (H) | 15:00 | 10:00 | 07:00 |
| Solar, Sept 13 | Manchester United (A) | 16:30 | 11:30 | 08:30 |
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