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Manchester City have been battling for Lille’s Ayyoub Bouaddi and are most likely to win the race this summer. On June 27th, we relayed news the Premier League side have shown the most interest and are ahead of other clubs. Manchester City have been in talks with the Ligue 1 side for several weeks over a deal for the 18-year-old. Last week, Sport Witness covered claims from France that Manchester City made concrete advances to reach an agreement with Lille. The operation should see the French club collect around €100m and reinvest part of it to reshape their squad. Manchester City move edging closer On Saturday, the French club settled for a 1-1 draw in a pre-season friendly against Everton. The Morocco international came off the bench in the second half to replace Nabil Bentaleb. Ouest-France now points it out and explains the midfielder is ‘close to joining’ the English club. The newspaper provides no further updates like the details of Manchester City’s deal with both Lille and the midfielder. Manager confirms negotiations New Lille manager Davide Ancelotti says he offered minutes to Ayyoub Bouaddi yesterday because he was ready to play. Ouest-France have relayed his comments. “He was physically ready to play, and he did play 45 minutes. But that’s only because I have to manage his playing time,” he said. The Italian also confirms the young star is attracting interest and talks are ongoing. The newspaper says he mentioned this when ‘commenting on his potential transfer to Manchester City’. “Of course, there are negotiations. Many clubs are interested in him. He’s a very, very good player and I hope he stays with us. The season starts next week, and I consider him a player at my disposal,” Ancelotti explained. On what makes the Citizens target ‘so special, he added: “He has an extraordinary personality. He’s incredibly intelligent, both on and off the pitch, and he shows great maturity. He’s 18, but he looks like he’s 32 when he’s on the pitch.” “Technically, he’s really complete. He’s also very physical and very strong in duels. He’s going to become one of the best midfielders in Europe over the next ten years.”