‘You’d worry about his career’ – World Cup star warned off Arsenal transfer with Real Madrid ‘very interested’ | OneFootball

Lille midfielder Ayyoub Bouaddi should “worry about his career” if he decides to move to Premier League side Arsenal in the summer transfer window.

The Gunners are looking to sign a new midfielder this summer after Martin Zubimendi’s form dropped off at the end of last season, no doubt down to exhaustion.

Arsenal have been linked with a number of players, including Newcastle United”s Sandro Tonali and Lille star Bouaddi, with the Gunners reportedly ‘opening talks’ for the latter.

Bouaddi has put in eye-catching performances at the World Cup and former Manchester United defender Paul Parker has warned the Morocco international about a potential transfer to Arsenal.

Parker told Betarades: “At the moment Arsenal are interested in everybody because they’ve won the league and the players they are interested in, you’re kind of going, well that doesn’t make sense because you’d have to take too much away from them for them to be Arsenal players. In other words, they express themselves, that’s, that’s not an Arsenal player.

“So, you’d look at that young boy Bouaddi and you’d worry about his career, if he was to go to Arsenal. If people were looking at him before, fair play. He’s been kept very quiet, he’s come from nowhere as far as I’m concerned.

“He’s been stuck somewhere in France and hasn’t been outstanding, so you’ve got to be careful because fans will be saying the same thing. There are players who pop up in World Cups or Euros or African Nations and they look like world beaters.

“Amrabat was another one who popped up in the World Cup in Qatar when Morocco reached the semi-finals, and all of a sudden everyone’s going wow, where’s he been? This and that. Manchester United sign him and he was ok but he wasn’t the same as what was written on the can. So you don’t want to get caught up in that kind of World Cup madness because of one performance. Now everyone’s going to be looking at him. I’m sure he knows it.

“He’s going to have to deliver again and show consistency, and you don’t always get that with young players now. If he can produce anywhere near that performance, then obviously there’s a lad there who’s cool, calm and collected, so that’d be very, very interesting.”

Emmanuel Petit has been impressed with Bouaddi in Ligue 1 and at the World Cup as the Morocco international continues to get linked to the biggest clubs in world football.

Petit told talkSPORT: “He’s been one of the strongest young players in France.

“We’ve seen that against Brazil. He’s shown maturity and personality.

“Even at the end of the game, I saw him try to dribble in his own penalty area.

“The confidence, he’s got quality, he’s got physical presence, he’s got the tactical knowledge, he’s got the technical skills.

“I’m not surprised at all that he’s been targeted for two seasons now with the big clubs in Europe, and it will be a fierce battle to get him.”

Sky Germany reporter Patrick Berger has revealed that Real Madrid are ‘very interested’ in a deal to sign Bouaddi this summer.

Berger wrote on X: ‘Real Madrid are very interested in Ayyoub Bouaddi (18/ ). People from Real Madrid, including Juni Calafat, were in attendance at the Brazil vs Morocco match in New Jersey to watch him closely. The club will continue to monitor his situation. Lille are demanding at least €70m for the talented midfielder. @SkySportDE.’