City's record investment in the teenager is starting to make sense
Ayyoub Bouaddi's first meaningful outing in a City shirt offered a glimpse of exactly what Enzo Maresca saw in him long before the £86m move from Lille was completed last month.
The 18-year-old played 75 minutes of Tuesday night's 2-0 Champions League win at Porto, slotting in alongside Enzo Fernández in midfield with an assuredness that belied his age. It was, by some distance, the most sustained look anyone has had at him since he arrived in Manchester.
Player Ratings v FC Porto
Season averagesMaresca, for his part, was not remotely surprised.
The moment that told Maresca everything
Speaking after the game, the City boss recalled a moment from Bouaddi's substitute appearance against Coventry that appears to have stuck with him. Twice in that game, Bouaddi gave the ball away. Twice, rather than shrinking, he found himself back in City's box, calm.
"Against Coventry he lost two balls and after he lost them, he was in our box, calm," Maresca said. "Any player would panic but this shows how good he is. He's just 18. You expect Erling, Ruben, Mateo that they can manage these games, but he was top."
That composure — receiving the ball under pressure and making sound decisions in tight spaces — was already a hallmark of Bouaddi's game at Lille. Porto merely offered the first proper demonstration of it in City colours.
Why City "made the effort"
For Maresca, the teenager's talent was never really in question. Europe had been aware of Bouaddi's reputation as one of its most exciting young midfielders for some time. What convinced City to invest so heavily was something less visible on a highlight reel.
"He's very good," said the City boss. "But it's his maturity and personality that made us make the effort to bring him here."
At 18, Bouaddi is being asked to adapt to a new league, a new country and a new style of play, all while carrying a fee that invites scrutiny. On the evidence of Porto, he appears equipped to handle it.