Manchester City confident of £85M Ayyoub Bouaddi deal after breakthrough in Lille negotiations | OneFootball

Manchester City are confident in their pursuit of Lille midfielder Ayyoub Bouaddi as talks progress over a deal just north of £85 million, as per a new report.

Ayyoub Bouaddi has been at the centre of one of the summer’s most fiercely contested transfer battles, with Manchester City’s pursuit of the 18-year-old drawing sustained competition from Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United, Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain throughout the course of a summer window in which the Morocco international’s stock has risen sharply on the back of a commanding FIFA World Cup campaign.

The Morocco international’s performances throughout the tournament in North America – where he featured in every game for his country except one across Morocco’s run to the quarter-finals – confirmed what those who had tracked him closely in Ligue 1 had long believed: that Bouaddi represents one of the most complete young midfielders to emerge in European football in recent seasons.

Discussions between director of football Hugo Viana and Lille president Olivier Létang have been among the most significant of a summer that has already produced the £116 million arrival of Elliot Anderson from Nottingham Forest, with CEO Ferran Soriano also understood to have been involved in face-to-face negotiations with Létang – a level of executive engagement that reflects the priority City have placed on securing Bouaddi’s signature before the window closes.

City’s position on the deal has evolved significantly over the course of the summer, with the club initially open to a loan-back arrangement that would have kept Bouaddi at Lille for a further season before pivoting to insist on an immediate integration into Maresca’s squad – a shift of stance that added a new dimension to negotiations but ultimately appears to have been accepted by the player’s camp.

Report: Significant progress made as City close in on most expensive teenager in history

According to talkSPORT, Manchester City are now on course to complete the signing of Bouaddi after making significant progress in talks with Lille in recent days, with a deal understood to be close to being finalised barring any late complications.

Bouaddi is valued by Lille at £85 million as it remains to be seen whether Manchester City sporting director Hugo Viana can drive a final fee lower as newly-appointed manager Enzo Maresca gets his hands on one of the brightest midfield talents in world football.

City are said to believe there is no better environment for Bouaddi’s development than working alongside Rodri – one of the world’s leading holding midfielders – and Maresca is keen to integrate Bouaddi into his first-team ranks straight away following discourse of a potential season on loan back at Lille.

Lille’s valuation of £85 million had initially been viewed as a stumbling block for several interested clubs, but City’s willingness to meet the French club’s demands in full – broadly following the model established in the Anderson negotiation – has moved them decisively ahead of rivals who were reluctant to commit at that level.

What would Bouaddi’s signing mean for Man City’s midfield rebuild?

A deal for Bouaddi at £85 million – combined with the £116 million already spent on Anderson – would represent a combined midfield investment of over £200 million in a single window, a statement of intent from Viana and manager Enzo Maresca that reflects the scale of the rebuild underway at the Etihad Stadium.

The addition of a player of Bouaddi’s profile would also resolve the question of how City intend to replace Rodri in the longer term, with the 18-year-old’s positional intelligence, range of passing and physical development pointing toward a future as a genuinely world-class defensive midfielder capable of stepping into the most demanding central role in Maresca’s system.

The competitive advantage City appear to have secured over the likes of Arsenal – who had tracked Bouaddi for several years and remained firmly in contention throughout – will be a particular source of satisfaction for Viana, with the ability to close a deal of this complexity and magnitude ahead of clubs of Arsenal’s recent stature representing a meaningful indicator of the direction of travel at the Etihad Stadium under the new management structure.

Whether the final details can be concluded quickly enough for Bouaddi to join pre-season training already underway at the City Football Academy, or whether his arrival is delayed until the paperwork is formally completed, is the final outstanding question in a saga that has dominated much of the summer window for Manchester City and their rivals alike.