Arsenal are one of the clubs in the race to sign Ayyoub Bouaddi, but Lille are pushing for a sale with a one-year loan back to the club for next season.
RMC Sport report that Manchester City and Manchester United are closely monitoring Ayyoub Bouaddi’s situation, and Arsenal and Bayern Munich have recently re-established contact over a potential transfer.
In a boost to those four clubs, Paris Saint-Germain are not in the race. Bouaddi likes PSG and would welcome a move, but the Ligue 1 champions aren’t planning to sign a midfielder unless there’s an unexpected departure.
But as an added complication, RMC Sport report that Lille would prefer a sale followed by a loan back to the club for another season, and club president Olivier Letang wants a minimum of €70m (£60.3m) – potentially more if there’s a bidding war.
Gary Jacob previously reported for The Times that Arsenal had begun talks to sign Bouaddi this summer, speaking to the player’s representatives about a possible transfer.
The Gunners are reportedly yet to make a formal offer to Lille, but that’s expected to follow in due course. Jacob claims Mikel Arteta wants a fourth midfielder to rotate with Declan Rice, Martin Zubimendi, and Myles Lewis-Skelly in the middle of his team.
But significant movement isn’t expected until Morocco are eliminated from the World Cup, as Bouaddi said himself.
“I’m really happy to know that some clubs are interested in me,” Bouaddi told David Ornstein. “But for now I’m only focused on the World Cup and we will try to give everything to do our best.”
Bouaddi is already a nailed-on starter for Lille. He’s made 96 senior appearances for the club, including starting 28 of their 34 Ligue 1 fixtures in 2025/26.
The midfielder has played two of Morocco’s three games at the World Cup so far, helping them draw with Brazil and beat Scotland. The team have a big last-32 clash against the Netherlands on Monday night (or the early hours of Tuesday morning for those in the UK).
- Former Gunner joins Everton in deadline-day moveEverton completed the signing of former Arsenal player Ainsley Maitland-Niles on deadline day, with the 29-year-old signing a three-year contract.
- Is Gabriel Martinelli still joining Al-Hilal from Arsenal?Gabriel Martinelli’s transfer from Arsenal to Al Hilal still hasn’t been confirmed after Tuesday’s Premier League deadline day, so is the move still going ahead?
- Ex-Arsenal 26yo to complete post-deadline-day transfer to FeyenoordReiss Nelson has completed a free transfer move to Feyenoord after departing Arsenal via a mutual contract termination, according to a report.
- Failed Everton transfer has implications for Arsenal & ChelseaFolarin Balogun’s transfer to Everton fell apart late on deadline day, denying Arsenal a sell-on fee and seemingly causing significant problems for Chelsea in the process.
- What happened with Arsenal target Malick Fofana?Malick Fofana ended up joining Sunderland on transfer deadline day, after a whirlwind 24 hours during which he looked set to join three different clubs.