Wolves have officially sold Rayan Ait-Nouri – and fans will now wait to see who becomes his replacement at Molineux.
The Algerian completed his move to City on Monday evening, after a five-year spell at Molineux.
Ait-Nouri’s fee has left some Wolves fans disgruntled. It’s thought Wolves have only sold him for around £35 million, but the club had to pay around £9.5 million to Angers to remove the 50% sell-on clause they had on him.
Photo by Charlotte Wilson/Offside/Offside via Getty Images
Photo by Charlotte Wilson/Offside/Offside via Getty Images
Supporters will miss his technical ability and trickery, and Vitor Pereira and co now face a difficult task replacing him and his output.
Following the sale, Molineux News looks at the winners and losers of Wolves selling Ait-Nouri to City.
Winners
Hugo Bueno
Molineux News was informed earlier this year that Hugo Bueno had a good chance of succeeding Ait-Nouri if the Algerian left.
That has now come to pass, and potentially there will be a chance for Bueno to come straight in as the new left wing-back.
Bueno loves Wolves and is desperate to play regularly after a successful loan spell with Feyenoord.
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Hopefully, he can make an impression on Pereira in pre-season.
Photo by Jack Thomas - WWFC/Wolves via Getty Images
Photo by Jack Thomas – WWFC/Wolves via Getty Images
Rodrigo Gomes
Rodrigo Gomes had a promising first season at Molineux, and may be someone who benefits from Ait-Nouri leaving.
The Portuguese youngster is extremely versatile, and we saw him play at left wing-back a few times in 2024/25.
There may now be more opportunities for him with Ait-Nouri departing, although he will perhaps get more minutes on the right side.
Nelson Semedo could also be departing, so surely Rodrigo will be feeling optimistic about building on his minutes in 2025/26.
Losers
Jorgen Strand Larsen
Photo by Jack Thomas - WWFC/Wolves via Getty Images
Photo by Jack Thomas – WWFC/Wolves via Getty Images
One man who may suffer as a result of Ait-Nouri leaving is Jorgen Strand Larsen.
The Norwegian number nine had a brilliant first campaign in Wolves colours, and was set up three times by Ait-Nouri for goals in 2024/25.
Ait-Nouri is a creative spark, and Strand Larsen – who Wolves will buy for around £23 million – was always on his toes looking for balls through from the 24-year-old.
As someone who heavily relies on the creativity behind him, there is an argument that Strand Larsen will be the most gutted Wolves player that Ait-Nouri has left.
Toti Gomes
One of the best partnerships Ait-Nouri had at Wolves was with Toti Gomes.
Toti is a brilliant fit to play on the left of the back three for Wolves, and has always been quite good at covering the space Ait-Nouri vacates when he goes forward.
Rayan Ait-Nouri has completed a permanent move to Manchester City.
Thank you for your contributions over the last five years, Rayan 🤝
— Wolves (@Wolves) June 9, 2025
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The pair have had a great understanding with one another on that left side, and one wonders if Ait-Nouri leaving could now affect Toti, who’ll have to learn the ways of a new player.
They had a great connection, so hopefully Toti can quickly hit it off with whoever replaces him.