Man City agree £86m Bouaddi deal as Lille accept offer for 18 year-old

Who is Ayyoub Bouaddi?

The Ligue 1 club accepted an initial £81.4m plus £4.2m in add-ons.

BBC Sport reported earlier this week that the two clubs were in advanced talks, and the Moroccan national is now set to complete his protracted move to England.

The signing addresses City's stated priority this summer.

Having sold Rodri to Barcelona for £65m and Tijjani Reinders to Saudi side Al-Qadsiah for £52m, Enzo Maresca's side paid Nottingham Forest £116m for England midfielder Elliot Anderson and remain interested in Chelsea's Enzo Fernandez.

It has been a summer of heavy spending across the division, from Brentford's club-record fee to the steady churn of summer transfer window done deals.

Bouaddi started five of Morocco's six matches at this summer's World Cup as they reached the quarter-finals, having announced himself in Lille's Champions League win over Real Madrid in 2024.

He debuted three days after his 16th birthday in October 2023, the youngest footballer ever to play for the club, and has since made 88 appearances.

He also broke a record held by Eden Hazard by reaching 50 Ligue 1 appearances at 18.

"A deep-lying conductor," said BBC Sport's Sami Mokbel on Bouaddi's role for the club.

On that reading he would complement Anderson, comfortable box-to-box as well as in the number six role he plays for England.