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Chelsea and Manchester City will have to pay £45million for Wolves' Rayan Ait-Nouri - report
Chelsea and Manchester City will have to come up with big money if they are to sign Ryan Ait-Nouri from Wolves, according to The Sun.
The Midlands side are willing to sell their young full-back, but only for the massive price of £45million, as the two Premier League giants look to address concerns on the left of the defence.
Ait-Nouri, 21, is attracting plenty of attention and Blues boss Thomas Tuchel has already made an enquiry about him, with Marcos Alonso likely to leave the club.
Pep Guardiola is ready to spend in order to finally address his problems at left-back, although he is also interested in Brighton’s Marc Cucurella.
The Seagulls themselves have looked at Wolves’ young Frenchman as a potential replacement for Cucurella since The Athletic reports that the Spaniard wants to move to the Etihad.
It is unlikely the south coast club would be willing to spend more than they bring in for Ait-Nouri though.
Hands off?
While in theory Bruno Lage’s side are willing to sell the former Angers man, the price tag has a distinct look of a hands off warning.
Both the suitors are in the Champions League and could afford to pay it, but it is hard to imagine either would do in the circumstances.
Although Tuchel will have a space if Alonso goes to Barcelona, the Spaniard isn’t actually first-choice at Stamford Bridge when Ben Chilwell is fit.
Similarly it looks like Cucurella is the primary target at the position for City, and The Times suggest that even though he may he a difficult target, he would likely cost two thirds of Ait-Nouri’s asking price.
It is a staggering rise for the young defender who initially arrived at Molineux on loan before the option to buy was triggered for less than £10million just a year ago.
He made 27 appearances in all competitions during the 2021/22 season, contributing six assists and a goal, and that is apparently enough for a more than four-fold price increase.
In other Wolves news, the club are in the chasing pack for Matt Garbett.