Manchester City Transfer Market: Another €100 Million Signing; Rodri’s Replacement Secured

Manchester City has pulled off another €100 million deal. After signing Elliot Anderson from Nottingham Forest for 135 million, the Sky Blues have decided to further strengthen their midfield, which has been left without Rodri and Reijnders, who departed this summer. The Manchester club has thus decided to target Ayyoub Bouaddi, who is joining from Lille.

The Moroccan national team player, born in 2007—one of the standout performers at the most recent World Cup in North America—will receive over 90 million euros in a fixed fee plus 10 million in bonuses, for a total of around 100 million.

Bouaddi will therefore miss his Ligue 1 debut with Lille against Angers and will move immediately to England, where he will undergo a physical and sign his contract: Enzo Maresca is waiting for him with open arms. The 19-year-old will become the highest-paid young player in Premier League history, surpassing Leny Yoro, who joined Manchester United in 2024 for approximately 70 million euros.

On the eve of the match against Bournemouth, Maresca spoke about the search for a “new Rodri”: “When Rodri arrived here, he hadn’t won the Ballon d’Or, the Champions League, or the Club World Cup. Once he joined the club, he achieved many important things. Now our goal is to try to find the next Rodri. I was thinking about this last night: when David Silva left, people were worried, and then Kevin De Bruyne arrived. When Agüero left, everyone was worried, and then Erling arrived. Fernandinho? Rodri arrived. That’s exactly how it is. When they leave, we have to sign the next star. Last night I was thinking about this: it’s normal; it’s a change; it’s not a problem to start over.”