Ayyoub Bouaddi: Why Man City and Europe’s biggest teams want to sign Moroccan

The youngster, born just north of Paris in Senlis, made his debut for Lille aged 16 years and three days and has gone on to make a total of 96 appearances for the French club.

Bouaddi, who only made his Morocco debut in May, has featured three times at the World Cup so far, helping the side to the last-16 stage, where they will face Canada on Saturday (kick-off 18:00 BST).

On his tournament debut against five-time winners Brazil he caught the eye with his calmness on the ball – he managed more touches (87) and completed more accurate passes (60) than any other team-mate.

“He has the potential to be one of the best midfielders ever in the game, not just for Morocco,” says El Amri. “He has such talent but he has to keep his cool and his feet on the ground. You can’t be a star if you don’t work hard enough.

“At first glance, he reminds you a lot of [former Spain and Barcelona midfielder] Sergio Busquets. He is very tall but also not very muscular. Normally you would get players with muscles in the number six or eight position.

“What he does best is keep his cool when he has the ball and when he is pressing. He doesn’t commit a lot of fouls, which is what made Busquets a complete midfielder.”

Bouaddi highlighted his prospects last season by leading the way in numerous metrics for players aged 18 or under across Europe’s big five leagues.

He played the most minutes (2,329) and made the most appearances (30) – more than the likes of Barcelona superstar Lamine Yamal, Werder Bremen centre-back Karim Coulibaly and Wolves’ Mateus Mane.

His energetic, all-action performances saw him top the rankings for players among his age category by winning possession 151 times, making a total of 59 tackles and 27 interceptions.

Lille have reportedly set an asking price of between £69m and £86m for Bouaddi, which is seemingly the going rate now for a top-class midfielder, something highlighted by City’s impending club-record acquisition of England’s Anderson.

Enzo Maresca’s side were interested in signing Sandro Tonali too, but the Italy international has agreed to join Tottenham instead, while there are question marks over the long-term future of Rodri, who has entered the final year of his contract at City.

Bouaddi may be the solution going forward but the player’s immediate aim will be to help his country go one better than their achievement four years ago, when they reached the last four of the World Cup before being beaten by France.

El Amri adds: “Everybody loves Bouaddi in Morocco. Not just because he is such a good player but off the field he is – as we say – the perfect son in law.

“He gained his high school diploma in mathematics and physics which shows the intelligence and IQ of this player.

“He has got what it takes to be not only be a fantastic player but a very good human being too and people in Morocco identify with that.”