Manchester City Break U18 Transfer Record for Ayyoub Bouaddi
Manchester City have wasted no time redefining their post-Pep Guardiola era. The chequebook is still wide open, the ambition undimmed, and now there’s a new headline name: Ayyoub Bouaddi.
The Premier League champions have confirmed the signing of the 18-year-old Lille midfielder in a deal worth €100 million — €95m guaranteed, plus €5m in add-ons — handing him a five-year contract running until 2031. For a teenager, it is a staggering fee. For City, it is a statement.
Bouaddi arrives on the back of a breakout summer with Morocco at the World Cup, where his performances turned curiosity into conviction among Europe’s elite. City moved decisively, and paid accordingly.
“Manchester City are, for me, the best Club in the world. It’s a dream to be here and be able to call myself a City player. I have spent most of my life working hard to become the best player I can be and reach the top of the game,” Bouaddi said in the club’s announcement, sounding every bit like a young man aware of the scale of the stage he has just stepped onto.
Life after Rodri – and a €100m answer
This is not spending for spending’s sake. City have already torn up one pillar of their recent success by selling 2024 Ballon d'Or winner Rodri to Barcelona in a deal worth €76.5m including add-ons. Removing the game’s most dominant holding midfielder leaves a crater in the squad. Bouaddi is not a like-for-like replacement in profile or experience, but he is clearly central to the club’s plan to rebuild the heart of their midfield.
His current market value sits at around €80m. That number now looks quaint. The reality of this summer’s market is blunt: if you want the next big thing, you pay tomorrow’s price today. City have done exactly that.
A record not just broken, but destroyed
When it comes to the most expensive U18 players in football history, Bouaddi hasn’t just edged to the top of the list. He has ripped it up.
The €100m fee is more than double the previous record, set when Manchester United paid Lille €62m to sign defender Leny Yoro in the 2024/25 season. That deal now drops to second place.
Behind them, the numbers read like a who’s who of modern wonderkids. Endrick sits third. Chelsea’s Estêvão is fourth. Real Madrid’s long-term gamble on youth is written all over the rankings too: Franco Mastantuono, Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo all joined Los Blancos as 18-year-olds for €45m apiece, underlining the club’s strategy of paying big before players hit their peak.
Further down the list, Tottenham’s €41.4m move for Archie Gray from Leeds takes eighth spot, a reminder that English clubs are just as willing to speculate on homegrown talent. Alessandro Bastoni’s switch to Inter sits ninth. Wolves’ €40m outlay on striker Fábio Silva rounds out the current top 10.
That surge of deals has already forced one long-standing benchmark out of the elite bracket. Manchester United’s 2014 signing of Luke Shaw from Southampton for €37.5m — once the emblem of big spending on youth — no longer makes the cut after 12 years in the top tier.
Now the landscape belongs to Bouaddi. City have pushed the ceiling for teenage transfers into a new financial stratosphere. The question is no longer whether the fee is high. It’s whether an 18-year-old can carry the weight of a €100m tag while helping to anchor a midfield in transition at a club that expects to win everything, every year.
