Fabrizio Romano has advised Liverpool fans to ‘keep a close eye to’ a potentially ‘interesting’ transfer situation involving the Merseyside club.
It was first reported last autumn that Anfield chiefs have been tracking Lille midfielder Ayyoub Bouaddi, who has since shot to global prominence with some excellent performances at the World Cup for Morocco.
The Italian transfer guru claimed last week that the Reds and Arsenal have had ‘direct contacts’ over a potential swoop for the 18-year-old, for whom an approach has been made by Paris Saint-Germain, and there have been further developments in that pursuit.
Speaking on a transfer livestream for Born ‘N Red, Romano revealed that, following nearly 12 months’ worth of scoring missions, Liverpool have held multiple meetings over a possible swoop for the Moroccan starlet.
He said: “Keep a close eye to the situation of Bouaddi for Liverpool and other clubs. Liverpool had two meetings and there are more clubs involved in that [PSG and Arsenal], so it could be an opportunity to go for him.
“It depends on price, it depends on what Lille want to do, but Liverpool have been scouting the player for a long time. It has been almost one year of monitoring the player closely. Let’s see if they enter this one. I think it could be interesting, not just for Liverpool but for other clubs.”
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Romano described Bouaddi as a ‘super talented midfielder’ after Morocco’s draw against Brazil at the World Cup (via YouTube), and the teenager followed it up with another strong showing in the win over Scotland, as reflected in the figures below from Sofascore.
It can be easy to get swept up in a player’s performances at a major tournament, which in turn have the power to heavily inflate his transfer price, but Liverpool will be fully aware of the 18-year-old’s attributes over a longer period, having scouted him for several months.
The table below (with data from Fotmob) shows where he ranked among fellow midfielders in the 2025/26 Ligue 1 season, with his ball-winning and dribbling metrics particularly standing out.
Making the transition from the French top flight to the Premier League will be a significant challenge for the youngster if the Reds were to sign him, but it’s one that he seems capable of taking in his stride, with Scouted Football on X praising his ‘unflappable maturity’.
As Romano says, this could become an ‘interesting’ story to follow throughout the summer, with Liverpool making their interest demonstrably clear in the form of those two meetings.
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