Ayyoub Bouaddi explains why he 'completely agrees' with Erling Haaland telling off after his first Man City start
Ayyoub Bouaddi responded calmly to Erling Haaland's callout during his first start for Manchester City on Tuesday.
18-year-old midfielder Bouaddi made his debut for City against Crystal Palace when he came off the bench and after another cameo against Coventry, he was named in Enzo Maresca's starting eleven for the Champions League opener against Porto.
Bouaddi has played in Europe's premier club competition before with Lille and he looked completely at home in tough surroundings at the Estadio do Dragao.
He had 71 touches and completed 98 per cent of his passes in the middle of the park as City won 2-0, with Maresca describing his performance as "unbelievable" as he said he was "never in panic".
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Two-goal hero Haaland also liked what he saw from the Morocco international but took issue with one moment in particular, revealing he would speak to Bouaddi about him not passing to him in the second half.
Speaking to Prime Video, Haaland said: "He did a really good game! In training, he's been amazing; I told the chairman [Khaldoon Al Mubarak].
"We've got a gem there... But I think he should've played me through in the second half; I was all alone; I was a bit angry, so I'll tell him right now - but he played a good game, except that pass..."
Haaland went off after collecting his Player of the Match trophy, but a few days later Bouaddi spoke to Pien Meulensteen at the Etihad Stadium in a sit-down interview for Sky Sports.
Naturally, Haaland's comments came up and after a brief chuckle, Bouaddi gave an extremely mature response which highlights why City snapped him up.
"Yes of course he spoke to me about that and I completely agree with him one hundred per cent. This is also one thing that I have to improve in my game, to be more vertical, to try and find that space.
"But it's part of the learning."
Ayyoub Bouaddi's first Premier League start could come up against Manchester United
Bouaddi has maturity beyond his years and has already played on the biggest stage after switching international allegiance to Morocco from France and starring at the World Cup.
But he will face his toughest test in English football so far as he could get a first Premier League start in the Manchester derby against rivals United.
Fellow new recruits Elliot Anderson and Enzo Fernandez are also in contention, as is Nico O'Reilly after struggling with a back problem which ruled him out of the last two games.
Bouaddi is ready for his first derby and is aware of the significance of the fixture for the supporters.
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"It’s one of the most important games, if not the most important game of the year," he said, speaking to reporters after the Porto win.
"It means a lot for the fans and for us. We want to win and will give everything for this game.
"We need to keep playing like we did against Porto, in the same way, and then we will see. We cannot predict what is going to happen. Of course we want to win every game and we will be ready for everything and give everything.
"We have a lot of good players in the team. There is a lot of competition, everyone can challenge for everybody to start a game. Everyone can start games. It’s up to every player to show in training and in games. That is football."
Topics: Man City, Erling Haaland, Enzo Maresca
Josh Lawless