Manchester City is quietly assembling a major midfield overhaul, and the pieces are starting to fall into place. While the club hasn’t made any splashy first-team additions yet, two moves behind the scenes could reshape their engine room for years.
The biggest chunk of that plan? A £116 million deal for Nottingham Forest’s Elliot Anderson is essentially done. City confirmed an agreement with Forest weeks ago, and the only holdup is the 23-year-old’s participation in the World Cup with England. He’s already done his medical in Kansas. Once England’s run in the tournament ends, Anderson officially becomes a City player.
The Bouaddi Chase
But Anderson isn’t the only midfielder City wants. Reports out of Italy say they’ve reached an agreement in principle with Lille’s Ayyoub Bouaddi on a contract that runs through 2031. That’s a serious commitment to a 22-year-old who just turned heads at the World Cup with Morocco.
Arsenal had been in the mix for Bouaddi too. Mikel Arteta held initial talks about bringing him to North London this summer. But City appears to have jumped ahead in the race. The tricky part still remains — City and Lille haven’t agreed on a transfer fee yet. Lille chairman Olivier Letang isn’t exactly playing hard to get with the price tag though.
“When I see Anderson move to Manchester City for £116 million and Tonali to Tottenham for £100 million, and they don’t have the potential for development that Ayyoub has because he possesses unique qualities,” Letang told reporters. “I have a price in mind, and we’ll see what happens.”
Translation: If you’re paying that much for Anderson and Tonali, you’re paying at least that much for Bouaddi. Maybe more.
What City Already Did This Window
City’s official summer signings so far aren’t exactly lighting up the first-team depth chart. Mathys Detourbet arrived from sister club Troyes but immediately got loaned to Monaco for the season. Goalkeeper Pierce Charles is heading to QPR in the Championship to keep developing. They also beat Arsenal to highly-rated teenager Jeremy Monga, another long-term play.
So all the real first-team business is happening now, late in the window, with Anderson and possibly Bouaddi at the center of it.
City’s statement on Anderson made it clear the deal is just waiting on paperwork. “Anderson, 23, is currently competing at the FIFA World Cup with England and has completed a medical in Kansas. The formalities of the move will be finalised upon his return to England.”
The question now is whether City can close the Bouaddi deal before another club swoops in. Arsenal might still have a say in this one.
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