The Ayyoub Bouaddi soap opera is officially over. Announced on the radars of Arsenal, Manchester United and even Bayern Munich in recent months, the 18-year-old midfielder finally joined Manchester City. To convince Olivier Letang to let go of his nugget, the Cityzens had to pay a huge check for 100 million euros. “ LOSC confirms today that it has reached an agreement with Manchester City FC (England) for the transfer of Ayyoub Bouaddi (18 years old). Child of the Lille academy, the Moroccan international midfielder is leaving his training club today after 5 years under the coat of arms of the Dogue », announced Lille. Bouaddi signed a five-year contract with an additional year as a bonus. He arrives to replace Rodri.
Trained at LOSC before making his debut at the end of 2023, the native of Senlis quickly got everyone in agreement in the North, then in the French championship. Very quickly, Bouaddi broke records for precocity, first becoming the youngest player to play a European Cup match at just 16 years and 3 days old (October 5, 2023, against KÍ Klaksvík), then the youngest player of the 21st century in Ligue 1 at 16 years and 20 days old (October 22, 2023, against Brest). During their stay at Lille, Paulo Fonseca and Bruno Genesio built their midfield in his presence.
The biggest transfer in Ligue 1 abroad
Appearing 96 times with LOSC, including 42 times last season, Bouaddi then participated in his very first World Cup with Morocco, despite strong interest from the French Football Federation. Starting in five of the Atlas Lions’ six matches during this 2026 World Cup, he shined in the midfield, enough to reinforce interest in him.
If Olivier Letang has long been tough in business, the Lille manager won his case since he finally managed to complete the highest sale in the history of the northern club, ahead of the 80 million euros for Nicolas Pépé who left for Arsenal in the summer of 2018. By leaving LOSC for 100 million euros, Bouaddi becomes – for the moment – the biggest transfer in Ligue 1 abroad, thus ahead of the 90 million euros obtained by PSG after the departure of Neymar to Al-Hilal in 2023.
