Manchester City Sign Ayyoub Bouaddi for £85.6m

Manchester City have struck a deal worth up to £85.6m (€100m) with Lille for highly rated midfielder Ayyoub Bouaddi, underlining the scale of their summer rebuild.

The Premier League champions will pay a guaranteed £81m (€95m) for the 18-year-old Morocco international, with the remainder tied to performance-related add-ons. Once the final paperwork is completed, Bouaddi is expected to sign a long-term contract at the Etihad.

Maresca’s new midfield cornerstone

Enzo Maresca has watched his midfield ripped apart in a matter of weeks. Rodri has gone. Tijjani Reijnders has gone. Bernardo Silva, John Stones and Nathan Ake have all departed in a sweeping overhaul that also claimed Pep Guardiola.

Into that vacuum steps Bouaddi, one of the breakout performers of the World Cup and a player City view as central to their next cycle. His arrival significantly deepens Maresca’s options in the middle of the pitch and offers a different profile in a department that has lost experience but gained raw talent.

City have already spent £116m on Elliot Anderson from Nottingham Forest, another sizeable bet on the future. Bouaddi’s fee only reinforces the sense that the champions are trying to build an entirely new core in one window.

A squad in motion

The churn has not stopped with the headline exits. Savinho is close to joining Tottenham, while Omar Marmoush and Nico Gonzalez – both named on the bench for Sunday’s Premier League opener against Bournemouth – could also be on their way out before the window closes.

City’s recruitment drive is not limited to Bouaddi either. The club have been linked with Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez and Palmeiras winger Allan, a clear sign that Maresca and the hierarchy are not finished reshaping a squad that has dominated English football for years.

For now, though, the focus is on the teenager from Lille. Bouaddi arrives as part of a radical reset at the Etihad. The question is no longer whether City are changing, but how quickly this new version can start winning on the same relentless scale as the old one.