Manchester City ready to sanction high-profile midfield exit after Ayyoub Bouaddi signing | OneFootball

Galatasaray are monitoring Manchester City midfielder Tijjani Reijnders and could move for the Netherlands international if the club allow him to leave, with City’s stance on a potential exit linked directly to the outcome of their pursuit of Ayyoub Bouaddi, as per a new report.

The 27-year-old joined Manchester City from AC Milan in June 2025 for around £46 million, arriving as one of Guardiola’s final major recruits and one of the highest-profile midfielders to move to the Premier League last summer, having been named Serie A‘s Best Midfielder for the 2024-25 campaign.

His first season at the Etihad Stadium produced moments of genuine quality, but the combination of a squad in transition and the broader uncertainty that characterised the end of Pep Guardiola‘s tenure meant Reijnders never fully established the consistent influence at City that his reputation had suggested he would.

Tijjani Reijnders now enters his second season in Manchester under a new manager and in a different environment, but the emergence of Galatasaray’s interest adds a fresh layer of uncertainty around a player whose position in Enzo Maresca‘s long-term plans remains to be fully established.

The linking of his potential exit to the Bouaddi pursuit is the most revealing element of the report – suggesting that City’s midfield planning for 2026-27 involves moving a player of Reijnders’s profile on before adding the 18-year-old Lille talent, rather than pursuing both simultaneously.

Blackburn: Reijnders exit conditional on Bouaddi deal as Galatasaray circle

According to Martin Blackburn of Sun Sport, Galatasaray are keeping close tabs on Reijnders and City could be willing to sanction a departure if director of football Hugo Viana is able to complete a deal for Ayyoub Bouaddi from Lille this summer.

The reportsuggests that City view Bouaddi as a direct midfield evolution rather than an addition to the current pool – and that funding or freeing space for a teenager who could initially return to Lille on loan is contingent on moving a senior midfield option in the opposite direction.

Galatasaray‘s interest is well-founded in footballing terms. The Turkish club are among the most ambitious in European football under the current ownership structure, and have a recent history of attracting high-profile Premier League players seeking a fresh challenge.

Reijnders’s experience, technical profile and versatility would make him an attractive proposition for a club competing in the Champions League group stages, and the Turkey market increasingly provides a financially competitive alternative to clubs lower in the Premier League for players at his level.

What does Reijnders’ situation mean for Man City’s summer plans?

The Reijnders-for-Bouaddi equation, if it holds, tells us something important about how Maresca and Viana are thinking about the shape of the squad – prioritising younger, higher-ceiling profiles over the established experience Reijnders represents, even when that experience was acquired just one season ago.

Bouaddi, whose performances for Morocco at the FIFA World Cup and for Lille in Ligue 1 have identified him as one of the most exciting teenage midfielders in European football, would represent a generational bet rather than a ready-made solution – one that makes more structural sense if the squad contains fewer senior midfield options competing for minutes.

The conditionality also protects City’s position: they are not selling Reijnders speculatively, but rather holding the option open as a consequence of business they intend to do elsewhere rather than as a reactive response to Galatasaray’s interest.

Whether Viana can bring the Bouaddi negotiation to a conclusion before the window closes – and whether that conclusion then triggers a departure for Reijnders – now represents one of the more intriguing connected storylines of Manchester City’s remaining summer business.