"Fascinating" development gives Man City edge over Arsenal & Man Utd in €80m Bouaddi transfer battle | OneFootball

Manchester City may currently have the edge over their rivals in pursuit of Lille midfielder Ayyoub Bouaddi, according to a transfer update from Ben Jacobs.

Speaking on talkSPORT, the journalist explained that Lille would ideally like to keep Bouaddi for one more season, so will be open to offering more favourable terms to teams willing to agree a deal for next summer.

Jacobs says there is a lot of interest in Bouaddi, but that at the moment it seems like Man City may have the edge as they seem most willing to wait another year to sign the talented young Morocco international.

Lille’s position on Ayyoub Bouaddi transfer

“Bouaddi of Morocco is a player that they’re (City) looking at very closely. Manchester United like him. Chelsea and Arsenal have the player on their radar and Bayern Munich too,” Jacobs said.

“And this is a fascinating transfer story because Lille are prepared to sell but they heavily favour a deal for 2027. Man City have shown they are willing to at least discuss this that put forwards a loan back or a pre-agreement, so the player can do one more season with Lille.”

He added: “It’s 80 million at the moment but could come down for those that say to Lille loan back or pre-agreement. It’s 100 million for other clubs that want an immediate transfer. So that’s going to be one to watch.”

What next for Ayyoub Bouaddi?

It sounds like it’s advantage City at the moment, and in fairness it’s also easy to see why this talented young midfielder would surely be tempted to move to the Etihad Stadium.

Still, it will be interesting to see if clubs like Arsenal and Manchester United also end up offering Lille this option, and if that could then see them more strongly enter the conversation.

Bouaddi might do well to consider other options as the signing of Elliot Anderson at City means he might struggle to start regularly given that there’s also still Rodri in Enzo Maresca’s squad.

Jacobs also notes in his video that MCFC are still looking at Sandro Tonali as well, so that could add to their depth in that position.

Arsenal also have a lot of quality in midfield in Declan Rice, Martin Zubimendi, and Myles Lewis-Skelly, so Bouaddi’s best chance of moving somewhere to be a starter could be with Man United.

The Red Devils have lost Casemiro at the end of his contract, while Manuel Ugarte’s form has been underwhelming and he’s now also suffered a serious injury at the World Cup, so there’d surely be a role for Bouaddi at Old Trafford straight away.