Deal confirmed just hours after report of Arsenal talks to sign Chelsea target

Arsenal and Chelsea have both been strongly linked with a transfer interest in Lille midfielder Ayyoub Bouaddi, who has just signed a new contract with the Ligue 1 club.

The highly-rated 18-year-old midfielder is emerging as one of the most exciting young talents in Europe at the moment, having already amassed over 70 first-team appearances for Lille.

As reported earlier this week, Chelsea are making Bouaddi a top target as they look to continue to strengthen with the best young players from around the world.

Meanwhile, RMC Sport reported yesterday on Arsenal already holding initial talks over a move for the Frenchman ahead of him likely signing a new contract.

Then just a few hours later, Lille officially confirmed the new deal for Bouaddi on their X account, as you can see in the post below…

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Le LOSC est aujourd’hui fier d’annoncer la prolongation de deux saisons du contrat d’Ayyoub Bouaddi (18 ans), un enfant du Domaine de Luchin. Le milieu de terrain international Espoirs français est désormais lié à son… pic.twitter.com/TbW0tItRtm

— LOSC (@losclive) December 5, 2025

Bouaddi has signed until 2029, but it seems his long-term future at the club could still be in some doubt, according to the RMC Sport report.

It’s possible that Lille are well aware that they’re unlikely to be able to keep Bouaddi for much longer, but they just want the security of being able to ramp up his asking price without the fear of his contract running down soon and thereby weakening their negotiating position.

RMC also claim that Arsenal are making a particularly strong push for Bouaddi, though their report also confirms our information of interest from Chelsea, whilst adding that Paris Saint-Germain are monitoring his situation.

The Gunners could do well to land this elite talent, with Bouaddi looking like a player with tremendous quality, as well as maturity beyond his years.

An intelligent deep-lying midfield player, Bouaddi looks like he could be a fine fit for Mikel Arteta’s side, eventually giving them an ideal long-term successor to the likes of Declan Rice and Martin Zubimendi.

It’s also easy to see why Chelsea would be keen on a player of this profile, and it will be interesting to see how this saga progresses from here.

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