{"id":808160,"date":"2026-10-20T02:32:16","date_gmt":"2026-10-20T02:32:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/808160\/"},"modified":"2026-10-20T02:32:16","modified_gmt":"2026-10-20T02:32:16","slug":"rio-ferdinand-gutted-man-utd-failed-to-sign-86m-man-city-star-football","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/808160\/","title":{"rendered":"Rio Ferdinand ‘gutted’ Man Utd failed to sign \u00a386m Man City star | Football"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\"\"
\n\t\tManchester United legend Rio Ferdinand (Picture: YouTube)<\/p>\n

Rio Ferdinand<\/a> admits he is \u2018so gutted\u2019 that Manchester United<\/a> failed to sign new Manchester City<\/a> star Ayyoub Bouaddi.<\/p>\n

Man City beat a host of rivals to the \u00a386m signing of highly-rated Morocco international Bouaddi over the summer<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In moving to the Etihad Stadium on a five-year contract, Bouaddi became the Premier League\u2019s most expensive teenager.<\/p>\n

Manchester City targeted the 19-year-old after selling Ballon d\u2019Or winner Rodri to Barcelona and fellow midfielder Tijani Reinders to Al-Qadsiah.<\/p>\n

Bouaddi has already shown glimpses of his immense potential at Man City and Ferdinand was blown away by his second-half cameo in last week\u2019s Champions League<\/a> defeat to PSG<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u2018Did you see when Ayyoub Bouaddi came on? This is why I was talking about him over the last year and during the summer transfer window,\u2019 Ferdinand said on his YouTube channel<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u2018He came on and showed PSG that they may have missed out on someone who was on their doorstep when he was playing in France.<\/p>\n

\t\t\"Ayyoub
\n\t\tMan City summer signing Ayyoub Bouaddi (Picture: Shutterstock)<\/p>\n

\u2018He turned 19 this month, right? His transfer fee is the same as [Andrey] Santos and [Youri] Tielemans combined. Manchester United were in for him, 100%, but the fee was just too much.<\/p>\n

\u2018Just that little cameo against PSG makes you go, \u201coh, I can\u2019t believe we missed out on that. I can\u2019t believe it.\u201d I\u2019m so gutted, so gutted. He\u2019s bad! He\u2019s so calm under pressure.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tAsk Metro<\/p>\n

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\u2018Man City have got that many games that then can share the load about. Because of his age you can just dip him in and out but sooner rather than later that\u2019s not going to fly with him because he\u2019s an incredible footballer.<\/p>\n

\u2018They\u2019ve got Elliot Anderson<\/a> and Enzo Fernandez<\/a> is that midfield as well but this kid could be the best of the three, easily.\u2019<\/p>\n

Following his impressive impact against European champions PSG, Bouaddi played the entire 90 minutes of Man City\u2019s win over Ipswich Town on Saturday.<\/p>\n

For more stories like this,\u00a0check our sport page<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Arrow
\nMORE: Rio Ferdinand claims Arsenal star deserves pay-rise after Nottingham Forest win<\/a><\/p>\n

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\nMORE: Manchester City facing enormous punishment that could result in double relegation<\/a><\/p>\n

Arrow
\nMORE: Bruno Fernandes reveals Man Utd players hit with ban after recent controversy<\/a><\/p>\n


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