Man City are in ongoing talks with Lille for Morocco midfielder Ayyoub Bouaddi.

Personal terms have been in place for a while with the 18-year-old as the clubs work to find an agreement.

As things stand, City do not consider talks with Barcelona for Rodri to be active after what they felt was a derisory opening offer, understood to be worth in the region of £40m.

The Spain captain is due to report back at City on Friday following his post-World Cup break. He has one year left on his deal and City would like him to renew.

Sky Sports News understands Barcelona are considering their next offer for the 30-year-old.

Alongside Bouaddi, City are interested in several other midfielders, who could be turned to in the event of further sales. Chelsea‘s Enzo Fernandez is a player that they have on their list this summer.

Chelsea value the Argentina midfielder at £120m. He shared a strong working relationship with new City boss Enzo Maresca at Chelsea.

Who could leave Manchester City?

In terms of outgoings, City are aware of interest from Nottingham Forest in midfielder Tijjani Reijnders, who was signed from AC Milan last summer for £46m.

Mateo Kovacic is expected to stay and see out the final year of his deal at the Etihad.

Midfielder Nico Gonzalez has said he wants to stay, but it remains to be seen if his opportunities will improve under Maresca.

The City boss has said Omar Marmoush will decide his future at City, likening his situation to James Trafford‘s who has subsequently joined Leeds United.

Marmoush wants to play more minutes, and Maresca has left the door open for that to happen under him at City this season.

At this stage, there has been no fresh contact for Tottenham target Savinho, who wants to leave City to join Spurs.

Meanwhile, Vitor Reis is expected to stay with Man City this season and fight for a first-team place.

The 20-year-old Brazilian has impressed new manager Enzo Maresca on the Far East tour, after spending last season on loan at sister club Girona. He joined City 18 months ago for just under £30m.

Erling Haaland, Jeremy Doku, Rayan Cherki and England players Marc Guehi and Elliot Anderson are due back at City on Wednesday.

Liverpool have confirmed the signing of defender Ronald Araujo from Barcelona.

The deal is an initial loan for the 27-year-old, who signed a new contract with Barca until 2031 last year, and also includes an option to buy for around £47.14m (€55m).

⁠Liverpool are not paying Barcelona a loan fee and will cover the entirety of Araujo’s salary for the duration of the season-long loan. It is understood Araujo has taken a pay cut to facilitate the move.

Araujo, who will wear the No 33 shirt, told Liverpoolfc.com: “I can’t wait to get started. I’m very, very happy.

“I’m excited to be here at this massive club with lots of history. I’m excited to meet my team-mates, excited to get started playing, and I’m very motivated and really up for getting going.

“I think it was the ideal move for me at this stage in my career. I think it was a move that was necessary for me to take. As soon as I heard that interest from Liverpool, everything went into action really, really quickly.

“As I say, I’m super-happy to be here and excited to get started. I’m glad about the interest and it was the right move at the right time.”

The Uruguay international, who did not play at the World Cup due to injury, is expected to train with his new team-mates this week.

Araujo will add to Andoni Iraola’s options at the heart of his defence following the departure of Ibrahima Konate to Real Madrid and fitness concerns over inexperienced 21-year-old Jeremy Jacquet.

Jacquet, a summer signing from Rennes, has made fewer than 100 senior career appearances and has not featured in pre-season yet after missing the second half of last season following shoulder surgery.

Joe Gomez suffered a muscle injury in Liverpool’s opening pre-season game, while teenage centre-back Giovanni Leoni is still recovering from an ACL injury, leaving captain Virgil van Dijk as Liverpool’s only fully-fit senior centre-back.

Araujo, who can play at right-back and centre-back, moved from his native Uruguay in 2018 and made his Barcelona debut the following October, going on to play more than 200 games for the LaLiga side.

He was named as one of the club captains following the departure of Marc-Andre ter Stegen in January, but started only 11 LaLiga matches for the Catalan giants last season after an extended break from football in November 2025 to recover from what he later revealed was depression.

Why the Araujo deal works for Liverpool…

Liverpool had not been actively seeking out defensive reinforcements, their priority firmly on adding a wide forward, but this was a market opportunity that made sense for a number of reasons.

Ronald Araujo can play at centre-back or right-back, and, crucially, he was available on loan. This offered an appropriate solution to injury concerns that are deemed to be more short-term.

Liverpool have already committed £60m to signing Jeremy Jacquet from Rennes, with a view to him partnering Virgil van Dijk at centre-back.

However, it remains to be seen if he will be fit for the start of the season, as Liverpool take caution with his re-integration to competitive action following a shoulder injury that has kept him out since February.

A muscle problem for Joe Gomez, which will keep him out for the Premier League opener against Newcastle, has worsened the problem for new head coach Andoni Iraola, who by his own admission is slim on options at the back.

Araujo arriving on a temporary move alleviates that injury headache and adds a layer of experience to Liverpool’s backline that is sorely missing. He has played more than 200 games for Barcelona after all.

There are understandable concerns around whether Araujo can turn around his struggles with form and fitness. Liverpool are not short on defenders with patchy injury records.

Liverpool are taking on a deal with an element of risk in that regard. But there is also a potentially big reward if Araujo does rediscover his best form thanks to the option to buy inserted in the deal worth around £47m.

At the peak of his powers, Araujo was being valued at around double that figure. Liverpool will hope to see his best in the Premier League, a division which is seemingly suited to his strengths.

How Liverpool were able to get Araujo

This is a deal that suits all parties. Liverpool require defensive cover amid injury worries around a number of players, while Araujo is not part of Hansi Flick’s plans at Barcelona and is in need of a fresh start.

Araujo signed a new contract with Barcelona last year in January that reportedly put him among the club’s highest earners. Six months earlier, he had been named Barcelona’s vice-captain.

However, the Uruguay defender has since been unable to reach the heights that earned him such high status at Barcelona amid struggles with injury and his mental health.

Araujo wore the captain’s armband as Barcelona celebrated becoming champions of Spain in May, but he had only played 24 times throughout the season.

Flick admitted when confirming the deal that Araujo was not suited to the way he wants to play and said the defender was excited about having the chance to move to a new environment.

Barcelona can now bring in a defender that Flick wants to work with, and Araujo has the opportunity to rebuild his career in the Premier League. If he performs, they will either earn a decent fee from Liverpool or his value will increase.

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