Lille president insists Ayyoub Bouaddi will stay put and rebuff Manchester City interest | OneFootball

Lille president Olivier Létang has issued a firm public stance on the future of Ayyoub Bouaddi, insisting the 18-year-old is likely to remain at the club despite sustained interest from Manchester City.

The Morocco international has been one of the most pursued young midfielders in European football throughout the summer window, with Manchester City leading the chase after director of football Hugo Viana identified Bouaddi as a long-term midfield target capable of developing into a cornerstone of the club’s rebuild under Enzo Maresca.

City’s pursuit had gathered considerable momentum across the course of the summer, with CEO Ferran Soriano understood to have met personally with Létang in June to discuss the conditions of a potential transfer – and a loan-back structure to Lille for the 2026-27 season emerging as the framework both parties were exploring as a workable compromise.

Létang’s latest public comments, however, represent a significant and deliberate stepping back from any suggestion that a departure is imminent, with the Lille president using his platform to reinforce the club’s position clearly and directly ahead of the final weeks of the summer window.

The remarks come as Manchester City’s window enters what is broadly regarded as its most critical phase, with several pieces of outstanding business still to be resolved before the deadline and Bouaddi’s situation now carrying considerably more uncertainty than had appeared to be the case in the weeks following City’s club record £116 million signing of Elliot Anderson from Nottingham Forest.

Létang: He’s not in a hurry to leave – why leave at 18 when you’re playing UCL football?

As relayed by Get Football French News, Létang has insisted that Bouaddi is in no rush to leave Lille for a new challenge.

“I told you last time I thought Ayyoub was going to stay, and I still stand by that,” said Létang. “The idea remains the same: to have a competitive team. If clubs come in at the end of the transfer window for a particular position and we’re not in a position to replace, we won’t go ahead with the deal.”

On Bouaddi’s own attitude toward a potential departure, the Lille president added: “We’re in regular contact with Ayyoub; he’s not in a hurry to leave, he’s very keen to stay here too.

“When you’re 18 and at a club like LOSC, opportunity to play a significant number of matches – including in the Champions League – you naturally ask yourself, why leave now?”

He concluded with a line that leaves open the possibility of a future development without committing to any particular outcome: “I’ll let him speak for himself when the time is right.”

What does Létang’s stance mean for Manchester City’s summer plans?

The firmness of Létang’s language is notable given the considerable momentum that had built around City’s pursuit in the weeks following the Soriano meeting, with a fee in the region of £67 million to £84 million and a loan-back structure having appeared to bring the two clubs into increasingly close proximity.

That the Lille president is now publicly distancing himself from any suggestion of an imminent agreement – and pointing to Bouaddi’s own contentment at the club as a mitigating factor – suggests that either the negotiations have stalled more significantly than the surrounding coverage implied, or that Létang is using public pressure to extract better terms from City before any private movement in the talks resumes.

Bouaddi’s own position, as described by Létang, also adds a new dimension to a story that had previously been analysed almost entirely through the lens of City’s intent – with the player now emerging as a genuine agent in the process rather than a passive subject of negotiations between two clubs, and his satisfaction at playing Champions League football with Lille a factor that Viana and his team may find more difficult to overcome than simply meeting a financial valuation.

Whether City elect to push harder before the window closes, accept the delay and revisit next summer when Bouaddi is a year older and perhaps more open to a move, or redirect their focus entirely toward an alternative target in that position, will become the defining question of the remainder of their summer – and Létang’s interview, for now, has made that decision considerably more complicated.