Ferdinand warns Man Utd missed out on 'incredible' £85m Bouaddi after City cameo stuns PSG

Rio Ferdinand has accused Manchester United of a significant transfer misstep after Ayyoub Bouaddi’s eye-catching cameo for Manchester City against Paris Saint-Germain last week reignited debate over the 19-year-old’s £85m summer move from Lille.

Ferdinand, speaking on his YouTube channel, said United were firmly in the running for Bouaddi before the fee proved prohibitive — a decision he now regrets. United instead spent a combined £155m on Carlos Baleba, Youri Tielemans and Andrey Santos, with Bouaddi’s transfer fee alone matching the combined cost of the latter two.

“Did you see when Ayyoub Bouaddi came on? This is why I was talking about him over the last year and during the summer transfer window,” Ferdinand said. “He came on and showed PSG that they may have missed out on someone who was on their doorstep when he was playing in France. He turned 19 this month, right? His transfer fee is the same as Santos and Tielemans combined. Manchester United were in for him, 100 per cent, but the fee was just too much.”

Ferdinand was unsparing in his assessment of what United had passed up. “Just that little cameo against PSG makes you go, ‘oh, I can’t believe we missed out on that.’ He’s so calm under pressure. Man City have got that many games that they can share the load. Because of his age you can just dip him in and out, but sooner rather than later that’s not going to fly with him because he’s an incredible footballer. They’ve got Elliot Anderson and Enzo Fernandez in that midfield as well, but this kid could be the best of the three, easily.”

City manager Enzo Maresca has been measured in his use of Bouaddi, but started him alongside Mateo Kovacic in a 3-2 Premier League win over Ipswich at the weekend. Maresca was effusive in his praise of the Moroccan midfielder.

“Ayyoub, first of all, is a fantastic player,” Maresca said. “The good thing about Ayyoub is that when he’s on the pitch he’s also improving the ones around him, and this is what top players do. The ones that move around them are better, and with Ayyoub the feeling that I have is that all the players around him are better.”

Bouaddi arrived at City as one of the most coveted teenagers in European football after a breakthrough season at Lille, where he also earned senior recognition with Morocco. City, who sold Rodri, Tijjani Reijnders and Nico Gonzalez while losing Bernardo Silva on a free transfer, moved decisively to land him alongside Anderson and Enzo Fernandez to reshape their midfield.

For United, now under Michael Carrick, Ferdinand’s comments add pressure to a summer recruitment strategy that has yet to be fully tested — but is already being measured against the player they chose not to pursue.