Man City break the bank for Rodri replacement in €265m midfield revamp

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Robin Bairner | Chief Editor

Accredited football journalist and editor covering the game since 2006

With Rodri closing in on his move to Barcelona, Manchester City have lined up Ayyoub Bouaddi as a replacement for the Spain captain, and Enzo Maresca’s side are ready to pay a record fee for the Morocco international.

Man City will reluctantly allow Rodri to depart back to his homeland, where he is on the verge of joining Barca after being so close to Real Madrid for much of the summer. Transfer insider Ben Jacobs claims there was progress made in talks between the clubs over the weekend, with a new bid from the Blaugrana expected to break the deadlock.

The deal will be a further catalyst for the Premier League giants to continue a revamp of their midfield that will cost around €265 million.

Compared

Rodri

DM, M (C)

Man City

Rodri

DM, M (C)

Man City

VS

Ayyoub Bouaddi

M, DM (C)

Lille

Ayyoub Bouaddi

M, DM (C)

Lille

€59.2M	ETV	€43.5M
€53.3M - €65.1M	ETV Range	€39.2M - €47.9M
30 years old (22 Jun, 1996)	Age	18 years old (02 Oct, 2007)
Spain	Nationality	France

Man City to sign Bouaddi

City spent big to beat significant competition to snap up Elliot Anderson from Nottingham Forest earlier this summer, and they are now prepared to splash out a record fee to sign Bouaddi from Lille.

The Ligue 1 side have quietly pegged the valuation of the 18-year-old sensation against that of Anderson, and according to AS, they have successfully struck an agreement worth €130m that will take their youth product to Manchester.

This fee will be a club-record sale for Lille, whose previous biggest outgoing was Nicolas Pepe to Arsenal for €80m, but also the highest transfer that any Ligue 1 side has received from a foreign club. Previously, Neymar’s switch from PSG to Al-Hilal, which was worth €90m, in 2023 set that mark.

Though there is recognition that Bouaddi has emerged as one of the best prospects in world football, City’s price for the youngster is extravagant. His Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) sits at €43.5m – well under the price that the Manchester giants are poised to pay for him.

In addition to Elliot’s €135m fee, City will have spent €265m on central midfield players alone this summer yet may arguably find themselves in a weaker position in the short term due to Rodri’s departure.

City forced to pay premium price

Initially, it had been expected that Lille would demand in the region of €100m for Bouaddi on the basis that they would have him back on loan for a year.

“What environment would be best for him to continue developing? We’ve seen each other since he returned from the World Cup. I can’t say what we discussed. Anything is still possible, but in my opinion, he should stay with us for another season. I’m convinced there’s a strong chance he’ll stay with us. And he would be very happy to do so,” Lille president Olivier Letang explained to L’Equipe in July.

However, it appears that City are ready to pay a premium for the midfielder in order to take him to the Etihad Stadium for the 2026/27 season - a direct consequence of Rodri departing.