Bouaddi joins Manchester City for €100m, historic record for Ligue 1 club

LOSC concluded an agreement with Manchester City on Sunday for the transfer of 18-year-old Ayyoub Bouaddi for a fee of 100 million euros. The Moroccan midfielder, revelation of the 2026 World Cup, is set to sign a five-year contract — with an optional sixth season — as early as Monday.

This amount makes Bouaddi the most expensive player ever sold abroad by a Ligue 1 club, surpassing the 80 million euros obtained by LOSC itself for Nicolas Pépé (Arsenal, 2020) and Victor Osimhen (Napoli, 2021). The absolute record for French football remains the domestic transaction between Monaco and PSG for Kylian Mbappé in 2018, valued at 180 million euros.

Manchester City sees Bouaddi as the successor to Rodri, who departed for FC Barcelona, and made him their absolute priority in this transfer window. The player, under contract with Lille until June 2029, had already made 96 professional appearances in the red shirt of the northern club despite his young age.

LOSC president Olivier Létang had anticipated the scenario while accepting the decision: “You have to be realistic and there are figures for which it would be a mistake, firstly not to anticipate, and secondly not to complete such a transfer.” The northern club, which initially wished to keep its prospect, ultimately gave in to the scale of Manchester’s offer.

This sale is part of a long series of masterstrokes by Lille on the transfer market: Rafael Leão sold to AC Milan for 50 million in 2020, then Leny Yoro sold to Manchester City for over 60 million in 2025. With Bouaddi, LOSC reaches a new level and confirms its status as a top European talent pipeline.