MANCHESTER, ENGLAND, 26 August. - (ANA) - Manchester City have confirmed the signing of Ayyoub Bouaddi from Lille for €95m (£81.4m) plus €5m, with the 18-year-old midfielder agreeing a five-year contract.

 

Bouaddi’s arrival comes after City struck deals to loan Omar Marmoush to Tottenham for the season, with an obligation to buy for an initial £50m, and sell Nico González to Newcastle for £52m.

 

Bouaddi has experienced a rapid rise after becoming Lille’s youngest player when featuring against KÍ Klaksvík on 5 October 2023, three days after his 16th birthday. The Morocco international played 96 times for Lille and becomes the most expensive teenager signed by an English club.

 

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“I am happy with the progress I have made so far, but I also know I can improve so much,” Bouaddi said. “This is undoubtedly the best place for me to do that. This club demands trophies and I will give everything to make sure we are challenging for every title.”

 

Hugo Viana, City’s director of football, said: “Ayyoub’s potential is extremely high – a player equipped with everything a top midfielder needs. At just 18, he already has outstanding football intelligence and that will only improve under the guidance of Enzo [Maresca].”

 

González on Wednesday became the fourth frontline central midfielder to depart City this summer after completing his move to Newcastle. The Spanish 24-year-old, a product of Barcelona’s La Masia academy, will wear No 6 at his new club and becomes the seventh senior addition to the Newcastle squad this summer.

 

González said: “I’m really happy to be here at this amazing club. I’ve only heard top words about the club and the city, so I’m really excited to live here and to be part of this project.” Matthias Jaissle, Newcastle’s manager said Gonzalez offered his squad ‘serious quality and elite experience’.

 

González joins fellow midfielders Rodri, Bernardo Silva and Tijjani Reijnders in moving on from the Etihad Stadium. City have added Bouaddi and Elliot Anderson, a £116m buy from Nottingham Forest, and are expected to firm up their interest in Chelsea’s Enzo Fernández by making a bid. The west London club value the midfielder at £120m.

 

Marmoush is to have a medical at Spurs, who have agreed to pay up to £10m in add-ons, with half of that guaranteed. Next summer the 27-year-old is to sign a four-year contract with a one-year option.

 

City are not due to give a sell-on fee to Eintracht Frankfurt, from whom they bought the Egyptian in January 2025. Marmoush is following Sávio in leaving City for Spurs, who bought the Brazilian winger in a deal worth £75m plus £10m on Tuesday. City have agreed a £34m fee for Palmeiras’s Allan Elias, who is to be Sávio’s replacement as a wide forward.

 

The Spurs manager, Roberto De Zerbi, has been keen to bolster his options at centre-forward and Marmoush represents an upgrade on Dominic Solanke and Richarlison, who have struggled for consistency and fitness.

 

De Zerbi said at the end of July that Spurs had a “bomba” attacking signing lined up, meaning a top-tier player, and Marmoush and Sávio fit the bill. They have taken rather longer to join than he would have liked; he revealed on Tuesday that the negotiations for Sávio started three days after the end of last season. He believes they will be worth the wait.

 

Spurs have spent £304.5m this summer on Jan Paul van Hecke, Sandro Tonali, Mateus Fernandes and Sávio. They have added Martin Dubravka, Andy Robertson and Marcos Senesi on free transfers. - (ANA) -

 

AB/ANA/26 August 2026 - - -