Manchester City is stepping up its efforts significantly in the pursuit of Ayyoub Bouaddi. 

According to reports from Sky Sport CH, which confirm those from RMC Sport, the Citizens have made substantial progress in their discussions with LOSC over the past few days, to the point where they now hold a clear lead over Arsenal.

Negotiations between Manchester City's sporting director Hugo Viana and Lille president Olivier Létang are now almost constant. The two executives prefer regular phone calls rather than formal meetings, and have been multiplying calls to advance the deal. Several offers have already been made verbally by the English club, but all of them have been rejected by Lille.

LOSC remains firm on its demands and continues to target the symbolic threshold of 100 million euros for its midfielder. For its part, Manchester City wants to close the deal for a fixed amount of around 90 million euros, to which various bonuses could be added. It is currently this financial gap that still separates the two clubs.

On the contractual front, there are no obstacles to report for the time being. Ayyoub Bouaddi has already given his consent to the Citizens for a contract running until June 2031.

Just a few weeks ago, Manchester City still appeared to be lagging behind in this pursuit. Arsenal were the clear favourites at the time, but the Gunners' sporting hierarchy prioritizing the Bruno Guimarães transfer reshuffled the deck. This shift in strategy allowed City to re-enter the race and eventually overtake the London club in the battle to sign the young French international.

Discussions are continuing at a steady pace, and Manchester City now wants to align the arrival of Bouaddi with the expected departure of Rodri to Real Madrid CF. The coming week looks set to be decisive for both operations, with the Citizens aiming to finalise the agreement with Lille within that timeframe.