Sources: Arsenal chief Berta pursuing transfer “strongly” as deal looks “positive”

The Ayyoub Bouaddi transfer story is emerging as one of the hottest potential deals of the summer, with Lille’s stance and the player’s own preferences making the race for his signature increasingly complex.

Bouaddi has already caught the eye at the World Cup 2026 as he ran the show from midfield for Morocco in their impressive 1-1 draw against Brazil in their opening group game.

Since then, speculation linking the teenager with Arsenal has increased, and I’ve received some information that might be of interest.

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Arsenal have indeed held initial talks with those close to Bouaddi, with Andrea Berta moving some time ago to try to position the Gunners as early favourites for this deal.

Lille are understood to be open to a sale and have long expected that they could lose the 18-year-old this summer, with strong performances at the World Cup giving them an opportunity to raise their asking price.

Sources with ties to the agents industry tell me that Lille could be looking for around £70-80m, but that may not be settled just yet as formal club-to-club negotiations have not started at the time of writing.

There’s also some truth to the widely-reported claim that Lille are keen to avoid selling Bouaddi to Ligue 1 rivals PSG, but sources close to the French champions insist that won’t put them off pursuing the deal for such a highly-rated talent, who is seen as a perfect stylistic fit for Luis Enrique’s project.

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I’m reliably told that, for now, Arsenal do not yet have a full agreement on personal terms with Bouaddi, even if there’s the sense that initial talks have been positive.

“Arsenal have been pursuing the Bouaddi deal strongly,” one source said. “No agreement on personal terms yet, but Berta and his team are feeling positive. I’d expect Bouaddi to be the top target, but work has also been done on Manu Kone, Sandro Tonali, and others.”

So, although the links with Arsenal are strongest at the moment, I wouldn’t rule out the likes of Chelsea and PSG just yet, as Bouaddi is going to continue to be seen as hot property on the market.

AFC will also keep other options open, so this might not be the speediest deal, as we’ll have to see how things progress with other targets as well.