With interest heating up, the young midfielder could be difficult for FC Bayern to get.
Sometimes, stars just rise to prominence out of nowhere. Something like that happened with Ayyoub Bouaddi last season, as the then-17-year-old not only broke into the Lille OSC first team and gathered minutes at that age but was thrown into the deep end by facing Real Madrid and Juventus in the Champions League. He handled those challenges with aplomb, putting in starring performances both times as Lille won against the then-Spanish champions and drew against Juventus. While Bayern Munich’s Lennart Karl may be making it look easy, putting in such performances at 17 is really rare.
Fast forward to a year later, Bouaddi has managed to become a regular starter for Lille, has both Morocco and France vying for his international allegiance and has the eyes of many of Europe’s biggest clubs on him. One of those, according to reporter Santi Arouna (as captured by @iMiaSanMia), is Bayern:
Bayern are one of several European top clubs keeping an eye on Lille midfielder Ayyoub Bouaddi (18). Although he’s just signed a new deal, Lille are open to a sale and are expecting around €60m.
Bouaddi’s old deal expire in 2027, necessitating the renewal mentioned in the report, but if the report is to be believed, the new contract serves only to maintain the 18-year-old’s value.
BFW Analysis
Leon Goretzka may be leaving Bayern, considering the fact that his contract is up at the end of the season and there seems, at the moment, to be no desire on the Bavarians’ side to renew. But the German champions still have Joshua Kimmich, Aleksandar Pavlović and Tom Bischof in the squad for two positions in the squad. One wonders if spending around €60m on a fourth midfielder is the most sensible.
But Bouaddi brings a lot of qualities to the Bayern midfield it does not have yet. At 6’1″, the youngster, who recently managed to the dubious honor of getting awarded two red cards in the same week, brings height to a midfield that is essentially comprised of two midgets and Pavlović, while his deceptively smooth dribbling helps him evade his marker and evade the press. Both are qualities Bayern could very much use.
Ultimately, it seems very unlikely Bayern will move for him, considering the lofty price tag and interest from all around Europe.
Category: General Sports
