Ayyoub Bouaddi serves notice to Man City with stunning stats in Morocco win
Manchester City star Ayyoub Bouaddi was hugely impressive for Morocco as they beat Gabon 2-0 in their first AFCON qualifier on Friday.
Noussair Mazraoui and Soufiane Rahimi scored for the home side as they dominated the contest to get off to a winning start.
Bouaddi joined the Citizens from Lille in the summer, after a deal worth up to £86million was agreed with the Ligue 1 side.
The 18-year-old has already made 63 appearances in the French top flight, and enjoyed a highly impressive World Cup campaign with his nation.
The midfielder's early weeks at Man City have largely been spent on the bench, though he has impressed in both the Champions League and the Carabao Cup.
Bouaddi will hope that a performance of such quality on Friday will have opened Enzo Maresca's eyes to his ability to contribute immediately, however.
The stats from Ayyoub Bouaddi's impressive display
Bouaddi has made it clear that he is hugely talented, even in the brief appearances he has made for Man City.
The Citizens would not have spent quite so much money on him if they were not convinced, but Friday's display was a nice reminder.
The 18-year-old dominated the midfield, oozing class in each battle he continuously won.
Bouaddi misplaced just four of 90 attempted passes, created two chances, completed 12 passes into the final third and completed all three dribbles he attempted, being fouled twice.
And that is not to mention the massive defensive effort the teenager put in. He made a tackle, two clearances, five recoveries and won six duels on the night.
Enzo Maresca biding time with Bouaddi
Maresca will be well aware of Bouaddi's tender age. It is not normal for a player of his age to perform at such a level, and certainly not normal to see them make an £86m move.
With that in mind, it is important that the Morocco international is protected and that is exactly what the Italian is doing.
"He’s very good," the Man City manager said earlier this month. "Against Coventry he lost two balls and after he lost them, he was in our box, calm.
"Any player would panic but this shows how good he is. He’s just 18. You expect Erling [Haaland], Ruben [Dias], Mateo [Kovacic] that they can manage these games, but he was top.
"You never expect that. Congratulations to Ayyoub and this is the reason he’s here with us."
It is inevitable that Bouaddi will soon become a key player for Man City, but Maresca is attempting to bed him slowly and make sure that step is made at the right time.