Manchester City's summer rebuild on the flanks is barely a month old, and already it has been dragged into a public courtship from the Championship.
The father of Hull City winger Belloumi has made clear where he believes his son's future lies, and he did not stop at vague talk of ambition. The 24-year-old has started the 2026-27 EFL Championship season in sharp form, scoring twice and setting up two more in six appearances. That run has now brought a first senior international call-up.
"With all due respect to Hull City, but at this level, he deserves to play for a bigger club competing for domestic and continental titles, such as Barcelona, Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain, Marseille and Manchester City."
That is Lakhdar Belloumi speaking. A former Algeria international and manager, he knows what a career looks like from the inside, which gives the comments a little more weight than the usual parental noise. He also confirmed there was interest during the summer, though nothing was agreed.
"If we receive any major offer, we wouldn't object to him leaving. This is just the beginning, God willing, he'll continue."
City have not been slow to reshape their wide options. Allan Elias arrived from Palmeiras for €40 million to fill the gap left by Savinho, while Jeremy Doku committed to a new deal running through to 2031. Deadline day brought Iliman Ndiaye in from Everton, with Omar Marmoush heading out on a season-long loan carrying a mandatory option to buy.
That is a lot of business in one window. It also explains why City are unlikely to revisit the position in January, or even next summer, barring injuries to key men.
Belloumi's own story is not one of smooth progression. He joined Hull in August 2024 from SC Farense and has since dealt with a cruciate ligament injury that kept him out for more than 200 days, along with hamstring and thigh problems. Staying fit has been the harder part of his career so far.
For now he is contracted to Hull and playing regularly under a manager who clearly values him. His father's list of clubs may be long, but the queue starts in East Yorkshire.