The transfer race for one of this summer’s most coveted midfielders has just got significantly more crowded, with Manchester City now confirmed as the latest elite club to express serious interest in a teenager who has taken the World Cup by storm.
The news will send a ripple of concern through both Liverpool and Arsenal’s recruitment teams, who had until now been the two Premier League clubs most actively pursuing the player.
According to Fabrizio Romano, speaking on his YouTube channel, City have genuine interest and have already entered conversations, though their preferred timeline differs slightly from their rivals.
Liverpool and Arsenal were already said to have held meetings with the player’s representatives, with reports emerging that Lille value the midfielder at around 80 million euros, equivalent to approximately £69 million.
18 year old Moroccan midfielder Ayyoub Bouaddi has quietly emerged as the defining midfield talent of the 2026 World Cup.
Born on October 2, 2007, in Senlis, France, the 1.86 metre central midfielder plays for Lille OSC and has been turning heads across Europe since his record breaking debut at just 16 years and three days old, making him the youngest player ever to appear in a European club competition match.
His rise since then has been relentless.
He broke Eden Hazard’s long standing Lille record to become the youngest player in the club’s history to reach 50 domestic appearances, and completed the 2025/26 season with 42 appearances across all competitions.
On the international stage, having switched his senior allegiance from France to Morocco in May 2026, he was fast tracked directly into the Atlas Lions’ World Cup squad and has been outstanding, helping Morocco draw with Brazil and beat Haiti to reach the knockout rounds.
Romano was clear, however, that City’s interest is structured differently from Liverpool and Arsenal’s.
He said, “Manchester City have genuine interest in Bouaddi.”
“He’s one of the players being considered by Manchester City, eventually for summer 2027.”
“Arsenal and Liverpool had meetings before the World Cup for this boy.”
“Both clubs were already tracking him. Manchester City are in the conversation for 2027, so there is going to be a lot of movement.”
PSG have also been in contact with people close to the player, adding yet another major name to an already crowded list of suitors.
Real Madrid have also been linked with the teenager.
For Liverpool, the urgency to move quickly is now even greater.
With City waiting in the wings for 2027, the Reds and Arsenal risk losing Bouaddi to a rival if they do not convert their early groundwork into a concrete offer before the window closes.
Bouaddi’s own reported stance only sharpens the stakes: he will only move to a club that can guarantee him a key first team role from day one.