Young Moroccan talent Bouadi heading to Manchester City

Manchester City has reached an agreement with Lille to sign Ayoub Bouadi after much effort. According to BBC, the Premier League club will spend 100 million euros to get the 18-year-old Moroccan midfielder.

Lille has initially accepted a transfer fee of 81.4 million pounds and an additional 4.2 million pounds as bonus. Altogether the value of the deal stands at 85.6 million pounds, which is nearly equal to 100 million euros.

BBC had reported at the beginning of this week that discussions between the two clubs had progressed a lot. Now the news of reaching an agreement on the deal has come.

City has been quite active this time to strengthen the central midfield. They have sold midfielder Rodri to Barcelona for 65 million pounds and Tijjani Reijnders to Saudi Arabian club Al-Qadsiah for 52 million pounds. Earlier, City signed England’s Elliot Anderson from Nottingham Forest for 116 million pounds.

Meanwhile, City is also interested in signing Chelsea’s Argentine midfielder Enzo Fernandez. However, it is still not certain whether that deal will happen.

Bouadi shone for Morocco in this World Cup. He was in the starting eleven in five of the team’s six matches on the way to the quarter-finals. This young player had indicated his capability on the big stage by playing an important role in Lille’s win against Real Madrid in the Champions League in 2024.

Bouadi made his debut in Lille’s main team just three days after his 16th birthday in October 2023. He has since played 88 matches for the club. He also had an important contribution behind Lille finishing third in Ligue 1 last season.