Manchester City look to have finally signed an out-and-out left-back as Rayan Aït-Nouri is said to have completed his medical ahead of a move to the Etihad Stadium.
The French-born defender is expected to join Man City on a five-year deal worth a reported £31 million, including add-on fees of approximately £5m, becoming the first new signing ahead of the upcoming Premier League season.
City spent significantly in the January window after chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak argued they weren’t aggressive enough last summer, and they look to continue rebuilding the squad following several key departures, not least of all Kevin De Bruyne.
Although the transfer is yet to be officially confirmed by the club, multiple outlets have now covered the Wolverhampton Wanderers wing-back being bound for the blue half of Manchester.
Rayan Ait Nouri has completed his medical with Manchester City and is expected to sign a five-year deal 📝 pic.twitter.com/sqBU43d7D7
Having come through the youth system at Angers FC in Ligue 1, the versatile fullback was loaned to Wolves back in 2021 before being signed permanently later that same year.
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The 24-year-old has made more than 150 appearances in ‘Old Gold’ since then, registering 12 goals and 19 assists, and has played for Algeria eight times after declaring allegiance back in 2022, despite having already represented ‘Les Bleus’.
More precisely, it’s the dynamism of Aït-Nouri that has seen him shortlisted by several clubs of late, with Pep Guardiola regularly deploying his fullbacks as utility players in his ever-fluid system.
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Even in an often faltering Wolves side, he contributed to more goal involvements than any other defender in the league during 2024/25; created the fourth-most chances from a player in the backline, the second-most dribbles and won back possession in the final third more than any other defender.
Nevertheless, he still looks set to be one of the most orthodox left-backs City have signed in years – with the club having struggled for strength in depth in that area for some time – using the likes of Joško Gvardiol (the best fit), Nico O’Reilly and Nathan Aké in that position most recently.
Quick, confident on the ball and strong in the tackle, he’s tailor-made for bombing down the flanks and creating plenty of those trademark cut-back finishes for Pep’s attackers. While they already have plenty of options going forward, Khaldoon has insisted there will be “several” more signings all over the pitch.
Aït-Nouri is expected to pen his City contract on Sunday, 8 June, meaning he will most likely be the first of a quickfire trio of new signings in the first half of June, with two other deals also believed to be close to being done.
In addition to long-admired target Tijjani Reijnders reportedly also undergoing his medical this weekend, another Rayan and fellow French-Algerian in Lyon’s Cherki, who is thought to be making a £30m move to play under the Catalan coach.
On the other hand, we wouldn’t be too surprised to see all three players unveiled in a single day, similar to what we saw just a few months ago.
Featured Images — Æthelred (via Wikimedia Commons)/Premier League (screenshot via YouTube)
Sport
New Amazon Prime Video docuseries to show Pep Guardiola’s final seasons at Manchester City
Emily Sergeant
A new all-access docuseries featuring Pep Guardiola’s final few seasons at Manchester City is set to air this summer.
Coming exclusively to Prime Video in the UK and Ireland, the four-part documentary is set to take Manchester City fans and neutral viewers alike inside the club as the players and manager – who delivered an era of dominance -make way for a new generation.
Filmed over the past two seasons, this is the ultimate account of an emotional farewell that marks the end of an era in English football, and will offer unfiltered access to Guardiola, his squad, and the City boardroom.
After 10 trophy-filled years – which included six Premier League titles, the UEFA Champions League, three FA Cups, and five EFL Cups – Pep Guardiola called time on his tenure in Manchester last month, alongside fan favourite players Bernardo Silva and John Stones, as well as Kevin De Bruyne the season prior.
This new docuseries was there to follow them every step of the process.
Fans can follow City from a disappointing 2024/25 campaign right through to a domestic double the following season, charting the raw emotion of a squad in transition.
The series is directed by Academy and BAFTA award-winning filmmaker, Kevin Macdonald, alongside City Studios’ John De Caux, and is produced by Kevin Macdonald for Plan B/KM Films and Gavin Johnson and Ged Doherty for City Studios.
“This is the ultimate account of an emotional farewell that marks the end of an era in English football,” Amazon Prime Video said in a statement.
Joining Prime Video’s wide selection of sports programming, the series will be available to watch at no additional cost to Prime members this summer.
It’ll be ready to stream on 19 August.
Featured Image – Prime Video
Sport
Here’s our petition for ‘Wonderwall’ to become England’s new football anthem
Danny Jones
All things considered, England have made a great start to the 2026 World Cup, pitching themselves as one of the great entertainers this tournament, and the scenes of the supporters and players alike serenading an entire stadium with ‘Wonderwall’ after the full-time whistle gave us chills.
So why not time for a change?
After all, that feels a lot like what this World Cup squad is about: a new manager, new teammates, not clinging to the previous ways of playing – and perhaps it’s time to put ‘Sweet Caroline’ to one side.
Now, we’re by no means saying that we’re ‘done’ with the John Denver anthem that has been reborn as a Three Lions anthem, but look at how good it was watching England belting out Oasis with the fans.
“Today is gonna be the day that England beat Croatia 4-2”, as BBC’s Match of the Day cleverly quipped.
Obviously, we’re biased as Mancs, but we also think there’s something special about having that particular track feel so good to hear again.
As much as we love Oasis, for a long time, it felt like we couldn’t enjoy arguably their biggest-ever single anywhere near as much as we once did.
We assume it’s something akin to hearing ‘Mr Brightside’ non-stop for what felt like millennia, and in truth, hearing those repetitions of “ba, ba, ba… SO GOOD, SO GOOD!” over and over again at sporting fixtures beyond just national team games has taken the magic out of it at times.
Perhaps it’s just a case of saturation in certain settings and songs simply being overplayed – FIFA’s co-hosts over in the US certainly helped see to that when it came to ‘Wonderwall’ for a long time.
On the other hand, it feels like we’ve now come full circle; singing those famous lyrics at the top of our lungs in a sea of Mancs and fans travelling from all over to Heaton Park for Live ’25 last year felt better than ever, and like we’d all remembered how great a tune it’s always been. So did this…
In fact, this felt so emotional that you’ve got people who aren’t even English praising both those on the pitch and up in the stands for the moment online.
Even the admittedly rather American Man vs Food himself, Adam Richman (though he does have British ancestry), felt compelled to write a moving response on social media: “Shut up. You’re the one that’s crying. Bravo, England.”
He’s far from the only one who was left bowled over by the atmosphere – us included.
What do you think? Is it time for a new go-to tournament anthem for the Three Lions moving forward?
Danny Jones -
8th June 2025 
