Rayan Aït-Nouri Completes £31m Move To Manchester City

Manchester City have completed the signing of the left-back Rayan Aït-Nouri from Wolves. The 24-year-old Algeria international has signed a five-year contract at the Etihad Stadium after the clubs agreed a fee of £31m.

Manchester City have completed the signing of the left-back Rayan Aït-Nouri

He becomes City’s first major signing of the summer, with the Milan midfielder Tijjani Reijnders also ready to join. Aït-Nouri will be eligible for the upcoming Club World Cup later this month, with City also looking to get Reijnders done in time.

“I am incredibly happy and honoured to have joined Manchester City. City are one of the biggest clubs in the world and the chance to play for the club is a dream come true,” Aït-Nouri said. “I am also so excited about working with and learning from Pep [Guardiola] and his coaching team and getting to train and play alongside such a world-class group of players.

“I am incredibly happy and honoured to have joined Manchester City.”

“I’m young and I came here to improve a lot. I need to learn and improve my football for sure, it’s why I chose this big challenge. I know I can improve my football and being in these kind of conditions with this team and this manager, for sure I will improve my football.”

He is City’s first specialist left-back since Benjamin Mendy

Aït-Nouri has spent five years at Wolves, initially arriving on loan from Angers before signing permanently for £14.9m in 2021. He is City’s first specialist left-back since Benjamin Mendy, who played his final game for the club almost four years ago. Oleksandr Zinchenko, João Cancelo, Nathan Aké, Josko Gvardiol and, most recently, Nico O’Reilly have been among the players to fill the position since.

Aït-Nouri will be very important in Pep’s system as he will be a left-back who would invert into the midfield, and increase the number of players in the midfield area, he can progress with the ball and has a great ability to arrive in between the lines. 

City are also reported to be close to completing a deal to sign the 21-year-old Lyon attacker Rayan Cherki for a fee of around £34m.