Manchester City are closing in on the signing of Rayan Ait-Nouri from Wolves.
Pep Guardiola is keen to add four or five new faces to his squad ahead of the 2025/26 campaign getting underway in August, and left-back is one of the key roles the legendary coach is keen to address.
The full-back role has been a bit of a problem area for Man City in recent years, as Nico O’Reilly was used in the role during the second half of last season.
At the same time, most fans of the Premier League club want to see Josko Gvardiol deployed as a centre-back, rather than out wide.
Ait-Nouri will help fix this issue in Manchester, and the 23-year-old was expected to cost City £50m this summer; however, Guardiola could see the defender join his squad for cheaper.
Man City could sign Rayan Ait-Nouri for around £40m
It was reported on Tuesday that Man City have yet to submit a bid for Ait-Nouri, however, a deal could progress very fast as the Manchester club hopes to make significant progress before the FIFA Club World Cup gets underway on June 14.
Ben Jacobs is now reporting that Man City are currently working on finalising personal terms with Ait-Nouri before approaching Wolves to sign the left-back.
The transfer journalist says a bid is still to be made, with Wolves now expecting to receive between £40m-£45m for the 23-year-old, which is cheaper than originally reported.
The Algerian star will be an exciting addition to Guardiola’s squad as the Wolves star was one of the best full-backs in the Premier League this season from an attacking point of view, with Man City turning down the chance to sign Antonee Robinson instead.
Ait-Nouri will be looking to have a positive record against most teams in the Premier League once he joins City, as his record against his potential new clubs is not pretty.
Rayan Ait-Nouri’s record vs Man City
Last time out against Man City, Jamie Carragher thinks Ait-Nouri should have been sent off after a bad tackle on Bernardo Silva, a game the Midlands club ended up losing 1-0.
This increased Ait-Nouri’s record against Man City to seven defeats out of eight contests, with his one win coming during the 2023/24 campaign when Wolves defeated City 2-1 at home.
The full-back has never produced a goal contribution against Man City, but the 23-year-old will hope that changes when the shoe is on the other foot.
The Wolves star is coming off the back of an excellent season where he scored four goals and assisted a further seven across 37 Premier League games, which should now increase with better players around him.
