Ayyoub Bouaddi just took a step closer to signing for Manchester City this summer.
Sky Sports Germany reporter Florian Plettenberg confirmed on X (formerly Twitter) that the Lille midfielder “has reached a full verbal agreement” with the Sky Blues.
The midfielder – previously thought to be of some interest to decision-makers at Liverpool – is being monitored by competing clubs.
We’re not necessarily disappointed that this is a deal Liverpool have evidently decided to distance themselves from.
🚨⏳ Ayyoub Bouaddi has reached a full verbal agreement with Manchester City.
Negotiations with Lille are ongoing.
Several other clubs are closely monitoring the situation, but ManCity are currently in pole position. #MCFC @SkySportDE 🇲🇦 pic.twitter.com/Esnjh1tz8Z
— Florian Plettenberg (@Plettigoal) August 3, 2026
Ultimately, when it’s been suggested that interested clubs will have to fork out around £85m for the Moroccan international (if not more), we simply can’t afford to cover both the midfielder and a move for Bradley Barcola.
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Certainly not if we also hope to competently plug gaps across the rest of the squad in the current window.
Not to excessively bang the Trey Nyoni drum, but there’s no question that the youngster again exceeded expectations in a superb first-half showing against Leeds at the weekend.
The 19-year-old played a key role in Florian Wirtz’s goal, supplying a superb crossfield pass to Jeremie Frimpong on the edge of the box before the Dutchman provided the assist for our marauding German.
* Trey Nyoni’s stats (Fotmob)
It was perhaps even more indicative of the footballer’s growing importance to Andoni Iraola’s side that his departure at the half-time break left Liverpool looking weakened in the middle of the park.
Again, while we don’t wish to compare Nyoni and Bouaddi, it’s hard not to feel encouraged by the former’s displays in pre-season. More to the point, at a time when Liverpool are thought to be a little cash-strapped – compared to last summer’s exploits – the teenager’s inspiring rise on tour could help save the club a small fortune in transfer fees.
There’s no telling how critical this could be while we look to bolster the squad in multiple areas ahead of the impending campaign.
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Is Richard Hughes on gardening leave as he doesn’t seem to be up to much? No point in appointing Iraola if he’s left with a threadbare squad.
We need to sign player midfider=scott,aimar oroz cf=endrick or oshimen cb=fikayo and konsa rw=rayan or akiouche or barcola
Those who watched Spain lift the world cup would have noticed how important the midfield is . How important that one position is, and the role of someone in front of the defence to protect it. Rodri has proved how important he is to Spain and what Manchester city have missed without him.
For all the attacking talent that France had their midfield wasn’t as good at what Spain had. Spain won the world cup because they had the best defence and the best midfield.
Liverpool have gone backwards since fabinho declined and, he left the club and he wasn’t replaced. Our current midfield is nowhere near good enough to win anything, wirtz behind the striker in a 4231 is a hindrance, the sooner we buy a specialist defensive midfielder and go back to three in the midfield the better. Until we get our very own Rodri we won’t get anywhere. No matter how many wingers we buy.
Defensive midfielder is one of the most important positions on the pitch. It’s why spurs and Manchester city have spent fortunes to protect the defence. You can run straight through our midfield, like a knife through butter. Neglegence and incompetent ignoring this position.
How can lfc win the league like this
Lfc pls act fast this is not a joke, let lfc hot this upcoming season if we are not carefull newcastle we beat us and red devils will top ours trophy,pls we need defence, for example last season did spurs has defence No,and they finished at 17, we know that lfc has ever finished in 9-20, but iraola we need to improve ours defence we need a player like vvd and now will need to buy a person now do not forget that august 30 is when the transfer window is closing
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