Manchester City

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New Manchester City signing Ayyoub Bouaddi says it is a "dream" to join "the best club in the world".

The 18-year-old Morocco midfielder has moved from Lille in a £85.6m deal and signed a five-year deal with City.

Enzo Maresca's side moved to sign Bouaddi after selling central midfielders Rodri to Barcelona in a £65m deal, Tijjani Reinders to Al-Qadsiah for £52m and agreeing to let Nico Gonzalez join Newcastle in a deal worth up to £52m.

"This is a very special day for me and my family," Bouaddi said on the move.

"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.

"I've watched City for many years, and I love their style of play. City always try and play quality football. And they have shown they are winners – this club feels like it's built to win.

"I have plenty of improving to do. I am only 18. This is undoubtedly the best place for me to do that.

"This club demands trophies and I will give everything to make sure we are challenging for every title."

Bouaddi impressed at this summer's World Cup - starting five of Morocco's six matches in their run to the quarter-finals - after becoming a key member of Lille's side in Ligue 1.

City Director of Football Hugo Viana added: "Ayyoub's potential is extremely high - a player equipped with everything a top midfielder needs.

"At just 18, he already has outstanding football intelligence and that will only improve under the guidance of Enzo.

"We have watched him very, very closely and throughout that process we have become increasingly convinced he is a huge talent who will thrive at City."

Shamoon Hafez
Football reporter

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Some of you have been sending questions in and Mathew asked me if Manchester City are having a "fire sale" and if the club are "tightening their belt for a specific reason".

City boss Enzo Maresca made it quite clear during Friday's pre-match news conference that any player that is unhappy at the club is free to leave.

Maresca revealed that Savio had said "from day one" that he wanted to move, while Omar Marmoush has been unhappy with the amount of gametime he has had since his move from Eintracht Frankfurt. He is too good a player to be playing second fiddle to Erling Haaland.

• Are you concerned with the exits? Tell us

Tijjani Reijnders and Nico Gonzalez have both failed to nail down first-team places and the club stance has always been, if a bid comes in that matches the valuation of a player, they are free to go if they wish.

City bought Reijnders for £46.5m last summer and made a £6.5m profit on him, while they recouped most of what they paid for Gonzalez last January.

Elliot Anderson has already come in, a deal has been agreed for both Ayyoub Bouaddi and Allan Elias, while speculation around signing Enzo Fernandez from Chelsea has not gone away.

I'm expecting City and director of football Hugo Viana to do some deals before the end of the transfer window.

Read more on Gonzalez departing and Marmoush nearing Spurs move

Shamoon Hafez
Football reporter

Manchester City could well be one of the busiest sides to do business in the remaining days of the transfer window.

With Savinho gone and Omar Marmoush and Nico Gonzalez now on their way out, there will be gaps in the squad which will need addressing.

A deal for Ayyoub Bouaddi has been agreed with Lille, and with Palmeiras for winger Allan, while BBC Sport has been told winger Pedro Neto remains of interest and speculation around signing Chelsea team-mate Enzo Fernandez continues.

Director of football Hugo Viana may have his hands full in these coming days.

Steven McInerney, Manchester City fan

City need numbers. We have let go of so many players, with Omar Marmoush and Nico Gonzalez following Rodri and Savinho out of the door alongside several others this summer.

It is essential that City bring in three or four new names before the deadline, with two of them being midfielders.

What business do you think still needs to get done before 23:00 BST on 1 September?

Get in touch with your views here

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Premier League history was made before a ball was even kicked this season as a record nine clubs started the campaign with new managers.

The post-Pep Guardiola era has officially begun at Manchester City under Enzo Maresca.

So how did he fare on an eventful first weekend of the 2026-27 campaign?

It looked like it was going to be a losing start for Guardiola's successor before Manchester City pulled it around with two late goals to beat Bournemouth.

How Maresca needed it after City were pounded by Arsenal in the Community Shield.

The Italian's emotions at the final whistle looked as much relief as celebration. He needs wins just to settle post-Guardiola nerves and ease the transition.

Maresca described the day as "perfect" - but it very nearly wasn't.

Erling Haaland's crop is not the only new look at City this season but, on occasions, there were passages of play with lots of possession and little punch, a familiar pattern from Maresca's time at Leicester City and Chelsea.

The use of Marc Guehi in midfield was a tactical twist.

Maresca will have wanted the win, no matter how it came, and City achieved it, even though it did carry a lot of the hallmarks of a work in progress.

Read Phil's thoughts on how the rest of the new faces fared here

Shamoon Hafez
Manchester City reporter

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Jack Grealish is back in the fold at Manchester City... for now.

The 30-year-old is into the final year of his reported £300,000-a-week contract at Etihad Stadium and was discarded by Pep Guardiola in the Spaniard's final season in charge, being allowed to join Everton on a season-long loan deal.

Grealish came on during the Community Shield defeat by Arsenal and played the final eight minutes of City's late comeback win over Bournemouth in Sunday's Premier League opener.

The winger appeared to be in good spirits while sitting on the bench against the Cherries and thanked City fans on social media afterwards for a "nice welcome" on his home return.

Though he has been handed a new lease of life under Guardiola's successor Enzo Maresca, no guarantees are being offered that Grealish will remain a City player come transfer deadline day on Tuesday, 1 September.

Heading into the final week of the transfer window, clubs sources have left all options open for Grealish's future - staying at the club, going out on loan again or leaving permanently.

Maresca has not ruled out a move either, saying after Sunday's game: "He is here and it is my duty to coach Jack and to try to get the best.

"Then it is one more week to go and we will see what happens. Not only with Jack but also other players."

Grealish looked to be getting back to his best during his loan at Everton, contributing two goals and six assists in 20 appearances before his injury.

City sources say there have been no concrete offers for Grealish so far this summer, with a return to Hill Dickinson Stadium looking the most viable option, should he move away.

Everton are yet to make an approach and try to agree a deal, but he remains of interest to the Toffees.

Manchester City defender Nico O'Reilly succeeded Morgan Rogers to become the 2026 men's Young Player of the Year at the Professional Footballers' Associations awards.

The 21-year-old paid tribute to former boss Pep Guardiola, who gave the youngster his City debut in 2024.

"Pep was a great manager. He put his trust in me, which I can only be grateful for. He helped me so much on the pitch and off the pitch as a person. If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be sat in this position right now. Thank you to him," said O'Reilly.

The versatile playmaker contributed eight goal involvements (five goals) and helped secure nine clean sheets in 34 league outings, scoring twice, and was named player of the match as City beat Arsenal in the League Cup final.

"It means a lot obviously to get recognised by the players that you play with and play around," he added. "It is a huge award to win. Obviously, the players that have won it before have gone on to do massive things themselves."

Since making his debut, O'Reilly has won the FA Cup, Community Shield and League Cup.

"It feels amazing," he continued. "To even be part of this team is a huge and great feeling, but to help them out and help this team out to win trophies or win games, it is an amazing feeling. Obviously, I came through the academy, and I have been here all my life, so it means even more."

Manchester City will submit a formal offer to Chelseafor Argentina midfielder Enzo Fernandez, 25, before the end of the transfer window. (Fabrizio Romano), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Wednesday's full gossip column

Follow the gossip column on BBC Sport

Jonty Colman
BBC Sport journalist

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The third-round draw for the 2026-27 Carabao Cup will take place on Wednesday, 26 August following the conclusion of Preston North End vs Everton.

Nine Premier League clubs taking part in European football join the 23 first-round winners from across the English Football League.

Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United, Aston Villa, Liverpool, Bournemouth, Sunderland, Brighton and Crystal Palace will enter the competition at this stage, as the top eight Premier League clubs from the 2025-26 season plus Crystal Palace as Conference League winners.

It will be broadcast live on Sky Sports following the conclusion of the third round tie between Preston North End and Everton, kicking off at 20:00 BST.

Unlike the opening two rounds of the competition, the third round draw is not regionalised.

However, before the match at Deepdale there will be a pre-draw determining which of the Champions League and Europa League clubs will play at home or away in round three.

In order to avoid potential scheduling issues, the eight Champions League and Europa League clubs cannot be drawn against each other in round three.

When the draw takes place, the first eight fixtures decided are the ones involving clubs in the Champions League and Europa League. The remainder of the draw will be an open draw as usual.

Due to clashes with opening weeks of the Champions League and Europa League seasons, the third round will be played across two different weeks. They are the weeks commencing Monday, 7 and Monday, 14 September, 2026.

Manchester City have entered the race to sign Liverpool and Netherlands forward Cody Gakpo, 27, with Tottenham also still working on a deal. (Soccer News NL - in Dutch), external

Meanwhile, Newcastle have reached a verbal agreement with Manchester City to sign midfielder Nico Gonzalez for £47m plus £3m in add-ons. (Fabrizio Romano), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Tuesday's full gossip column

Follow the gossip column on BBC Sport

Shamoon Hafez
Manchester City reporter

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Manchester City have agreed to sign winger Allan Elias from Palmeiras in a deal worth up to £34.2m.

The 22-year-old Brazilian will come in as a replacement for compatriot Savinho, who looks set to join Tottenham.

City have agreed to pay a fixed fee of £32m, plus £2.2m in add-ons, for Allan with a medical scheduled to take place in the coming days.

They remain in advanced talks to sell Egypt forward Omar Marmoush to Spurs, and sources with knowledge of the situation say there is a "good chance" the deal gets completed before the 1 September transfer deadline.

Discussions are ongoing between the two clubs and there are some details yet to be agreed.

Midfielder Nico Gonzalez may also depart Etihad Stadium before the end of the transfer window, with strong interest in the Spaniard from Newcastle.

We asked for your thoughts after Sunday's Premier League game between Manchester City and Bournemouth.

Here are some of your comments:

Man City fans

Brian: City showed belief and grit in this opening game of the season. The conceding of an early goal is a concern but they dug deep and played for each other to score two well-worked, late goals. The team played as a unit and with high-possession stats they have lost nothing from previous seasons. A good watch and fans must go with the changes. This was a good day and there is a lot more to come from this squad.

Anthony: Lucky. Cherki made the difference. City won't stay in top four at this rate.

Luis: So far Maresca has NOT impressed me. He seems to choose the wrong team formations and only corrects it at the end or, in the case of the Community Shield, too late. I hope he learns that without creativity and field reading he will not succeed. Rodri understood this fault of Maresca's, so he left. Maresca seems to be stuck in the past.

Ged: Very lucky to win. Bournemouth played well and City were average. Better teams will tear City's defence apart if they perform like that. But, it's the first of 38, the manager is getting his ideas across and the players are finding their feet. No panic required. It's three points. Onwards!

Bournemouth fans

Toby: Thought the performance was extremely promising, with the passing and pressing on point. Just unfortunate to miss out late on. Can only be excited for what is to come under Rose.

Michael L: When will Bournemouth (and others) learn that scoring one goal and then parking the bus only works against poor sides - and even if it does work, that the most likely result is a draw. Even getting a second goal doesn't always get a result with these tactics. It is also very boring.

Kirsi: In similar fashion to the defeat from last season at Anfield, Bournemouth proved themselves as a quality side capable of putting up a good fight against top clubs. However, it was the late goals that made us drop points once again. I think the performance against City was good for the most part, but there are still areas we need to improve on in order to carry over the success from last season into theis new era for our club.

Michael K: We were not aggressive enough and played too many backwards passes, even from free-kicks. Overall, a disappointing performance against an underperforming City team.

Manchester City centre-back Josko Gvardiol says the squad "all need to support eachother and the manager" after beating Bournemouth 2-1 at home.

Goals from Marc Guehi and Josko Gvardiol completed a dramatic late turnaround, ending City's 10-game winless run in Premier League matches in which they had trailed at half-time (D2 L8), with their previous such victory coming against Manchester United in March 2024.