The one that got away? Not quite
Manchester City's summer midfield rebuild very nearly looked very different. Before Ayyoub Bouaddi walked through the door, the club had spent months chasing Bayern Munich's Aleksandar Pavlović — a chase that ultimately ran into a dead end.
City's interest in the 22-year-old was not a fleeting thing. First contact came as early as March, and the club made clear they were willing to go big: around €100 million (£85.8 million) was the figure floating about. For a player who came through Bayern's academy and now wears the Germany shirt, that kind of money tends to get a conversation started.
It did. Bayern, well aware of City's interest, watched on. Pavlović, for his part, did not say no outright. He told City he needed time to think. And think he did — before deciding to stay put in Bavaria.
No formal offer was ever lodged with Bayern. In the end, it never needed to be.
Had Pavlović said yes, he would be a City player this season.
Instead, City turned to the second name on their list. In Ayyoub Bouaddi they have landed an 18-year-old from Lille — a younger, longer-term prospect, and one of three new faces in midfield this summer alongside Elliot Anderson and Enzo Fernandez.
Whether Bouaddi grows into the player Pavlović already is remains to be seen. But the club's patience in waiting out their first choice, then pivoting cleanly to the alternative, says something about how they go about their business. The pursuit of Pavlović may have fallen short. The plan, in the end, did not.