Manchester City have “asked for deal conditions” for Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Rayan Ait-Nouri, who has 13 caps for Algeria, reports Fabrizio Romano.
Manchester City Enquire About Rayan Ait-Nouri
Rayan Ait-Nouri’s Career to Date
Ait-Nouri started his career in France with Angers SCO. He made his first-team debut aged just 17 in the 2018/19 season, coming off the bench three times. He became the French team’s first-choice left-back the following year, playing 17 Ligue 1 games before a combination of a broken jaw and the Covid-19 pandemic saw his season curtailed.
The left-back played three further games in France before heading to Wolves on loan for the 2020/21 season. He enjoyed a solid first season in England, making 24 appearances, scoring once and making one assist as he shared minutes at left-back with the likes of Jonny Otto and Marcal. The English club decided to make his loan move permanent in the summer of 2021.
The 2021/22 campaign saw Ait-Nouri continue his competition with Marcal and Otto for a starting berth. He played 23 league games, scoring once and providing four assists for his teammates, whilst also starting all of Wolves’ cup games.
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Heading into the 2022/23 season, the left-back looked like he could be set to finally solidify his place in Wolves’ best XI due to the departures of Marcal and Ruben Vinagre. But, the campaign was undoubtedly the most disappointing of Ait-Nouri’s time at Molineux. He started just nine league games as he did not suit Julen Lopetegui’s style of play, with the Spaniard preferring to employ his countrymen Hugo Bueno and Otto as well as Toti Gomes on the left-hand side of defence.
The last two years have seen Ait-Nouri establish himself as a key player for the West Midlands giants. He played 33 league games under Gary O’Neil in 2023/24, whilst registering five goal contributions, and he played in all but one of Wolves’ league games this campaign, scoring four goals and making seven assists. In fact, Antonee Robinson was the only defender to make more assists in the league than the French-born man.
Do Manchester City Need a Left-Back?
Pep Guardiola has recently emphasised that he wants a small squad next season despite the number of games City are likely to play. As the Cityzens have only had one injured player for the last two Premier League games, John Stones, the Catalan has been forced to leave as many as six bona fide first-team players out of his matchday squad.
Josko Gvardiol has excelled at left-back for the past two seasons and he is in contention to win City’s Player of the Season this year. Nico O’Reilly has also broken into the Sky Blues’ first-team as a left-back, having more xG on target per 90 than any other left-back and making more successful dribbles per 90 than 93.9% of left-sided defenders. Fans must also not forget about Nathan Ake, who returned to the bench for the last two games. The Dutchman was a crucial part of City’s treble-winning defence and is an excellent one-on-one defender.
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But, that does not mean that City are strong enough at left-back. Signing Ait-Nouri would allow O’Reilly to move into his more natural central midfield position, an area in which City have majorly struggled this season, and it would let Gvardiol continue his blossoming partnership with Ruben Dias in the centre of defence which has seen the Cityzens look much more solid in the final weeks of the season.
The Algerian is an excellent dribbler, only Matheus Cunha and Joao Gomes have carried the ball further for Wolves, and he is incredibly hardworking, meaning he does not get exposed in transition too often.
How May This Story Develop?
Romano reports that the “rising star” is “high” on City’s list of targets at left-back, though he does not say if the Algerian is the Cityzens’ number one choice.
Guardiola’s side start their Club World Cup campaign in around three weeks time, meaning the deal will need to progress quickly if City are to have any chance of using Ait-Nouri in the first edition of the revamped competition.