Revealed: How Manchester City secured major discount on Rayan Ait-Nouri transfer from Wolves | OneFootball

Manchester City secured themselves a significant discount in the deal to sign Rayan Ait-Nouri from Wolves compared to their initial enquiries, it has been revealed.

The Algerian defender became the first of four major summer signings to be integrated into Pep Guardiola’s first-team set-up with immediate effect this summer, beginning with participation in the FIFA Club World Cup.

Following Ait-Nouri through the doors of the Etihad Stadium and onto the flight for the United States-based tournament are the likes of Rayan Cherki from Olympique Lyonnais and Tijjani Reijnders from AC Milan.

An additional recruit was made following the confirmed exit of third-choice goalkeeper Scott Carson, with Chelsea’s 33-year-old shot-stopper Marcus Bettinelli recruited by Hugo Viana to take on the role vacated by the much-loved member of Manchester City’s dressing room.

And the work conducted by Manchester City’s newly-appointed director of football appears to have saved the Etihad Stadium club a vast sum of money when it came to the signing of Rayan Ait-Nouri from Molineux.

That is according to the information of talkSPORT’s Alex Crook, who reveals that Manchester City were first quoted a transfer fee as high as £50 million when they first enquired about the possibility of signing Wolves’ Rayan Ait-Nouri last summer.

The Algeria international’s Molineux contract was due to expire next summer, and while Wolves did have the option to extend that agreement by a year in order to protect his value, the fee received this month from City has been shared out.

The report confirms that Wolves officials have had to pay Ait-Nouri’s former club of Angers £9.5 million, meaning that they are only making £26.5 million from the £36 million deal with Manchester City – inclusive of potential add-ons.

Rayan Ait-Nouri is likely expected to become Manchester City’s first-choice starting left-back for the foreseeable upon the start of the competitive season, which begins with a group stage campaign at the FIFA Club World Cup.

The addition of the 24-year-old into the Etihad Stadium’s first-team set-up will also allow for Josko Gvardiol to revert into his natural role within the centre of defence, while Nico O’Reilly could be afforded further opportunities further forward into midfield.

Whether or not Manchester City choose to do further business in the transfer market remains to be seen, although there is understood to be a keen interest in recruiting at right-back, with Newcastle’s Tino Livramento the number one priority target for the position.