£85m-rated midfield sensation says YES to Man City as two sources indicate deal is ON

Manchester City appear to be closing in on the signing of one of the World Cup’s breakout stars, with sources revealing Enzo Maresca has already signed off a deal for a player who has also given the green light to move to The Etihad this summer.

City have already forked out £116million to secure the signing of Nottingham Forest and England star Elliot Anderson for Maresca’s midfield, but it appears they are not done when it comes to adding to the Italian’s engine room.

As our very own Graeme Bailey reported on July 15, Man City have accelerated their pursuit of Lille and Morocco ace Ayyoub Bouaddi and are ready to draft him straight into Maresca’s first-team plans.

Indeed, City decided to move for the 18-year-old talent after backing away from a deal for Sandro Tonali and also becoming increasingly reluctant to meet Newcastle United’s lofty valuation of 28-year-old Bruno Guimaraes.

Our sources previously revealed that City were open to Lille’s preferred proposal of selling Bouaddi and then loaning him back for another season in France. However, that was always deemed a fallback option, and now Maresca has decided he wants the player as part of his midfield mix.

And it’s now claimed by a separate source that the teenager, who wowed scouts during Morocco’s run to the World Cup quarter-finals, has given the nod to a move to Manchester.

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Bouaddi edging close to Man City switch

Italian journalist Nicolo Schira has now delivered a further update on Bouaddi’s future, and it spells good news for Etihad transfer chiefs and not fellow suitors Arsenal, PSG and Real Madrid.

Schira reports that Bouaddi has indicated that he is ready to join City and add to the signings of Anderson, Pierce Charles, Jeremy Monga and Mathys Detourbet to date.

Bouaddi will not come cheap, though, with Lille valuing the generational midfield talent in the region of a whopping €100million (£85m / $114m).

Quite whether City are prepared to pay that much for a teenager with zero experience of playing in England remains to be seen, and much will depend on the initial marker they put down.

However, they are pressing ahead with a move for Bouaddi, who Arsenal have been scouting for some time, and hope to secure the transfer over the coming days or weeks.

It certainly helps that the player himself is pushing for the transfer, with Bouaddi able to fill multiple different midfield roles for Maresca.

Indeed, last season at Lille, Bouaddi played the majority of his games as a No.8, but can also take up the defensive pivot role and even fill in at right-back if requred.

Elsewhere, we can reveal that a versatile City star has emerged as a major target for Premier League rivals Everton this summer.