Manchester City are closing in on the deal that will shape their midfield for the next decade, agreeing a fee of around €100 million with Lille for the French-born Morocco international Ayyoub Bouaddi, just 18, who is being lined up as the long-term successor to Rodri.
ONE reports that Bouaddi has sealed personal terms with City, with the move now moving into the medical stage before it can be finalised — Hugo Viana's recruitment team having tracked the teenager for months.
The deal only became realistic once City resolved the far bigger midfield question of the summer: Rodri's move to Barcelona, completed in mid-August in a transfer City valued at up to €76.5m including add-ons. Losing their Ballon d'Or-winning anchor freed the budget, and the squad need, for a marquee replacement.
Lille's valuation of Bouaddi sat at roughly €100m (£85.6m), according to Sky Sports and ESPN, with the two clubs still fine-tuning the split between guaranteed fee and add-ons this week. City are said to have offered a long-term contract in the region of five to six years.
Bouaddi was born in Senlis, northern France, to Moroccan parents and rose through Lille's academy, breaking into the first team as a teenager and, at 16, becoming the youngest player to appear in a European club competition match.
He committed his international future to Morocco in 2026 rather than France, and it paid off immediately — he was one of the breakout performers of Morocco's World Cup campaign this summer, catching the eye against Brazil and Canada and accelerating interest from Europe's biggest clubs.
Lille had moved to protect their asset, extending Bouaddi's contract to 2029 as recently as December, but the scale of City's offer — and the World Cup exposure — made a departure this summer difficult to resist. Arsenal, Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Manchester United had all been credited with interest in the midfielder.
If the medical and remaining paperwork go through as expected, Bouaddi becomes City's marquee response to Rodri's exit and another statement of Guardiola's continued faith in developing young talent inside his midfield rather than simply buying the finished article.
