Chelsea asked Manchester City to back away from their pursuit of Ayyoub Bouaddi while fatuously asking to swap Nico O’Reilly for Malo Gusto on top of £80 million, according to new reports.
What can Manchester City fans expect from Nico O'Reilly under Enzo Maresca?
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Enzo Maresca has overseen a huge rebuild throughout his squad this summer alongside sporting director Hugo Viana, who, for a second consecutive season, has impressed many City supporters with the deals he has helped complete.
One of the biggest challenges for Maresca in succeeding Pep Guardiola was the test of his ability to make suitable changes to a team that was ageing and showing signs of wear on the pitch towards the back end of last season.
Yet he has done just that, and to perfection. City managed to produce an exciting midfield rebuild, made up of Enzo Fernandez, Elliot Anderson and Ayyoub Bouaddi, while bringing in Everton star Iliman Ndiaye in the last days of the window.
Manchester City have announced the signing of midfielder Ayyoub Bouaddi from Lille on a five-year contract until 2031.cityxtra.co.ukMan City Confirm €100M Ayyoub Bouaddi Signing From Lille
Manchester City have announced the signing of midfielder Ayyoub Bouaddi from Lille on a five-year contract until 2031.
Chelsea wanted £80M for Gusto and O’Reilly in foolish swap proposal
There were record-breaking deals all over the window across the final few weeks, but it was hard to give anyone but Chelsea the award for the worst offer of the summer when they negotiated a deal involving Bouaddi and O'Reilly.
The Stamford Bridge side didn’t only want City to back away from their £85 million deal for Bouaddi, with the hope of signing him as a replacement for Fernandez, Xabi Alonso’s club also wanted to complete the bargain of the century.
According to The Athletic, sources familiar with negotiations on the City side of the deal claim that Chelsea wanted to swap O’Reilly for Gusto, on top of an asking price of £80 million.
When approached by The Athletic, Chelsea claimed that Gusto was never available to them as they had a strong desire to keep him at the club, while denying that they asked City to step aside so they could move for Bouaddi.
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This caused multiple reactions across social media, questioning why Chelsea even attempted making such an approach when the chances of an agreement being met under those circumstances were impossible.
Bouaddi setting an example in training, with Maresca set to give him more games than people expect
After joining from Lille last week, Bouaddi made his Manchester City debut in the 4-1 win over Crystal Palace, where Erling Haaland and Rayan Cherki scored twice each to take Maresca’s side to the top of the Premier League table after two games.
Bouaddi came on after 82 minutes and helped City add a fourth to their tally while showcasing his exceptional tackling, passing and positioning in his first outing as a City player.
Not only did he impress in that game, but the midfielder is also showing positive signs in training too, with Maresca said to be impressed by the huge impression he has made in training so far, as added by The Athletic.
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How do you replace a FIFA World Cup and Ballon d’Or winner in midfield? For Manchester City, you hand the keys to Ayyoub Bouaddi, perhaps the sharpest tactical mind of this generation.
While the Italian is being patient with Bouaddi due to his age, he is almost certainly going to give him more minutes than many people expected after showcasing his skill set to the highest level behind closed doors.