Manchester City‘s Rayan Aït-Nouri is planning to leave the Premier League side in the winter market after failing to secure a move in the summer window.
The France-born Algeria international arrived in England when Wolverhampton Wanderers signed him from Angers in 2020. He was a regular at Molineux, and his performances led to Manchester City signing him in June 2025.
However, the left-back didn’t enjoy regular game time in his debut season at Manchester City. He played 1,605 minutes in 28 matches under Pep Guardiola’s orders.
Enzo Maresca replaced Guardiola in the summer and hasn’t regularly relied upon Aït-Nouri this season. To put it in context, he has 168 minutes from four matches and is yet to feature in the league.
Manchester City blocked summer exit
Juventus and Manchester United tried to sign him in the summer, and L’Equipe mentions this when covering the latest about his future.
The Serie A side showed genuine interest while Manchester United tried to sign him on loan towards the end of the window. However, the Citizens refused to let Rayan Aït-Nouri join their local rival.
Last week, Sport Witness covered a report from Italy explaining that Juve are still keen. The Serie A side are ready to move immediately as long as it’s an initial loan.
On October 10th, the former Wolves man changed agents and Ali Barat is now managing him. The French newspaper backs it up and provides more about the fullback’s future plans.
Desperate for Manchester City exit
Rayan Aït-Nouri has a contract until 2030, and Transfermarkt value him at €35m, a €5m drop since last year. Both Nico O’Reilly and Joško Gvardiol are ahead of the Algerian in the pecking order.
Besides the tough phase at Manchester City, he also faced a complicated situation with the national team after his early departure during the last international break.
Journalist Nabil Deljit covered this report for L’Equipe: He states: ‘It is high time to turn the page and regain some peace of mind. Unless there is a dramatic turnaround at City, the only way out is to leave for a more favourable environment. Because until then, there remains a bitter feeling that this story never really began.’
Deljit also spoke to a source close to the player, meaning his entourage. The same source confirmed his desire to leave Manchester City in January.
‘Everything is being done to try and leave this winter. The player remains highly regarded in England, and beyond. We need to find the best possible solution with Manchester City. He can’t stay in this situation where his talent is being wasted,’ the source said.
It’ll be interesting to see where he will move in the next window.
