Man City close in on £250m summer spend with Bouaddi and Allan deals imminent

Manchester City are on course to spend £250m in a single summer transfer window after agreeing a fee with Lille for teenage midfielder Ayyoub Bouaddi and identifying Palmeiras winger Allan Elias as their replacement for Savinho, who joined Tottenham on Tuesday.

City will pay an initial £81.4m for Bouaddi, a Morocco international, with a further £4.3m available in bonuses. The 18-year-old has been involved in Lille’s pre-season and could slot straight into the squad, though City face a tight registration deadline. New signings must be registered with the Premier League by midday on the day before a fixture, and with City travelling to Crystal Palace on Friday night at Selhurst Park, all paperwork for Bouaddi must be finalised by Thursday morning.

Allan Elias is also expected to arrive from Palmeiras. The Brazilian winger was pinpointed as the direct replacement for Savinho, whose £75m move to Tottenham — rising to £85m — set a new club record for a sale, surpassing the £64m initially received for Julián Álvarez when he joined Atlético Madrid in 2023.

The summer’s activity has already rewritten City’s transfer history. The £116m signing of Elliot Anderson from Nottingham Forest in July made him the club’s most expensive player, eclipsing the £100m paid for Jack Grealish in 2021. Anderson’s arrival came after Rodri and Bernardo Silva both departed, with City having tracked the midfielder for months before fending off interest from Manchester United.

Further business remains possible before the window closes. Chelsea’s Enzo Fernandez is still of interest to City, while outgoings are also being finalised. Midfielder Nico Gonzalez is edging closer to a move to Newcastle United, and striker Omar Marmoush is nearing a loan switch to Tottenham Hotspur.

Questions continue to surround Jack Grealish’s future at the club. The England winger was limited to a late substitute appearance in City’s win over AFC Bournemouth on Sunday, and his long-term role under Pep Guardiola remains unclear as the deadline approaches.