Manchester City have agreed a deal to sign Rayan Ait-Nouri from Wolverhampton Wanderers.
The Athletic reported on June 2 that the 23-year-old was City’s top target to strengthen at left-back.
The Algeria international is now set to join in a transfer worth just below €40million (£33m) on a five-year contract with the option of a further year.
Ait-Nouri will leave Wolves after 157 appearances over five seasons. He initially joined as a loanee from French side Angers in 2020 – signing permanently the season after – and will go with one year left on his contract.
City were light on left-back options in their squad last season, instead fielding central defenders Josko Gvardiol and Nathan Ake in the position, with academy graduate midfielder Nico O’Reilly, 20, also filling in towards the end of the campaign.
Ait-Nouri primarily featured as a left wing-back in a back five for Wolves last season, registering 12 goals and assists in all competitions across 2024-25. He also completed 63 take-ons in the league, only four behind Crystal Palace’s FA Cup-winning Eberechi Eze.
City will next play in the Club World Cup alongside Wydad AC, Al Ain and Juventus in Group G. The tournament starts on June 14 and will run until July 13 in the United States.
Wolves are now set to be without two of their top players from last season after forward Matheus Cunha’s move to Manchester United was confirmed on Sunday.
What City are getting
Analysis from Thom Harris
Ait-Nouri stood out as a consistent creative presence for Wolves last season, taking the most touches in the attacking third and registering the most assists (7) of any player on the team from his high-and-wide left wing-back role last season.
He stepped up in the absence of Matheus Cunha as the team strung together six successive wins to help them to safety, providing a goal and an assist against Tottenham and creating five chances against Ipswich, a constant threat with his curling left-footed crosses and positive running down the flank. Only 10 Premier League players attempted more take-ons last season.
There is clearly more to Ait-Nouri’s game than classic wing-back play, however, a technical, two-footed player capable of playing a variety of different roles. He drove through the centre of the pitch and slipped a pass through to Cunha for an early-season assist against Chelsea, chopped inside and found an incisive right-footed pass against Tottenham in December, and even stepped in to play a No 10 role under Gary O’Neil last season.
Think of Ait-Nouri as a Joao Cancelo type full-back; a maverick in possession, inventive, good in tight spaces, and able to play in the pockets or out wide in a flexible Pep Guardiola team. He gives City attacking variety and more conviction than their wingers have been able to offer in the final third this season, and for that, is an attractive proposition, even if there are concerns around his concentration in defence.
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