Ayyoub Bouaddi lasted just 45 minutes against Brighton in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday. Enzo Maresca took him off at half-time, and Manchester City eventually needed penalties to reach the next round.
Three days later, Brighton returned to the Etihad for a Premier League match. Maresca changed almost his entire starting eleven.
Erling Haaland was back. Gianluigi Donnarumma returned in goal. Elliot Anderson and Enzo Fernández started in midfield.
Ten players had changed from Wednesday’s lineup.
Bouaddi was the only one who stayed.
For a 19-year-old still trying to establish himself at Manchester City, that was a significant decision. Maresca had experienced alternatives available, yet he gave Bouaddi another start against the same opponent.
The afternoon ended badly for City. Brighton won 1–0, and Bouaddi was replaced by Rayan Cherki after 55 minutes.
His place in the team was clearly not secure. The interesting development was that Maresca had chosen him again, despite having the opportunity to make a complete change.
To understand why that matters, we need to go back two weeks.
The Ipswich match changed his opportunities
On 17 October, Bouaddi started his first Premier League match against Ipswich Town.
City won 3–2, with Phil Foden opening the scoring and Haaland scoring twice. Bouaddi contributed neither a goal nor an assist, but he played every minute.
His midfield partner changed during the match. Mateo Kovačić came off in the 50th minute and Fernández replaced him. Bouaddi remained as City extended their lead and later faced a nervous finish after Ipswich pulled a goal back.
Maresca had given him a full league match to manage, including the demanding closing stages.
City’s official statistics recorded 92 touches, seven ground duels won and seven line-breaking passes. Bouaddi was regularly involved in possession, helped move the ball beyond opponents and competed when City had to recover it.
It was the kind of work that had attracted attention when he arrived from Lille.
In September, MATCHIQ had examined his ability to receive possession and help a team play through pressure. His appeal was never simply about being a young midfielder with excellent technique. It was the possibility that he could make sensible decisions when opponents closed down the space around him.
Ipswich offered encouraging evidence of his involvement in a Premier League midfield.
There was an important qualification. City had made six changes after their Champions League defeat to Paris Saint-Germain. Rotation had helped create the opportunity, even though Bouaddi earned credit for how he handled it.
The next test was straightforward: would Maresca still choose him when more established midfielders were available?
Brighton’s two visits brought that question back into focus.
Two matches, two early substitutions
Bouaddi started the 28 October Carabao Cup meeting alongside Kovačić.
Brighton took the lead through Malick Yalcouyé in the 30th minute. City’s official report noted that Bouaddi had played a part in keeping the scorer onside, a defensive moment that deserved examination alongside the positioning of his teammates.
At half-time, Maresca replaced him with Rayan Aït-Nouri.
City recovered from a difficult match, drawing 2–2 before winning the penalty shootout 4–3.
The substitution showed that Bouaddi still had plenty to learn. Playing the full 90 minutes against Ipswich had not guaranteed him another complete performance.
Then came Saturday’s team selection.
This time, Anderson and Fernández were alongside Bouaddi from the beginning. Kovačić was on the bench, as were Cherki and Foden.
Maresca was not simply repeating the cup lineup. He had rebuilt the team for a league match while keeping one young midfielder.
There was a football reason behind the decision.
Brighton were expected to press aggressively and challenge City in midfield. Maresca later explained that this had influenced his decision to use three physically capable midfielders, with the possibility of introducing more attacking players later.
Bouaddi had therefore been selected for a particular job. City needed players who could compete in the middle, offer passing options and help the team deal with Brighton’s pressure.
That made his place in the starting eleven more meaningful than another appearance earned through a heavily rotated squad.
Unfortunately for City, Brighton made life difficult almost immediately.
In the 11th minute, Matheus Nunes failed to deal with a low cross. The ball deflected off Maxim De Cuyper and fell to Yasin Ayari, who finished from close range.
City were behind, and Bouaddi’s defensive responsibilities became part of a much more demanding match.
The goal itself came from Nunes’ failure to clear the ball. There is no basis for assigning it to Bouaddi simply because he was part of the midfield selected to protect City’s defence.
As City tried to respond, they pushed Brighton back and created opportunities. Anderson supplied a cross that Iliman Ndiaye headed narrowly wide, while Bart Verbruggen made important saves.
Bouaddi was involved for 55 minutes. City’s official statistics credited him with 33 touches and 23 attempted passes, with an 87% completion rate.
Those figures describe his participation, although they do not reveal how successfully he escaped individual pressure or protected the defence when possession changed hands.
With City still trailing, Maresca brought on Cherki.
It was an understandable attacking decision. The manager wanted another player capable of creating chances against a Brighton defence that had protected its lead.
City finished with 21 shots and an expected-goals figure of 1.92, according to Sky Sports. They still could not find an equaliser.
Brighton had defended well, and City had failed to make their chances count. The full-match figures cannot establish that Bouaddi’s substitution improved the attack.
Maresca’s trust is becoming more specific
Bouaddi’s two appearances against Brighton tell us something about the way his manager is developing him.
Maresca is prepared to start him in demanding matches. He is also prepared to remove him when the game requires a different approach.
Those decisions are not contradictory.
Against Ipswich, Bouaddi was asked to complete the match. Against Brighton in the league, he was selected because Maresca wanted particular midfield qualities from the beginning.
By the 55th minute, City’s immediate priority had changed. They needed another goal, and Cherki offered a different attacking option.
The manager’s willingness to make that change does not erase the trust involved in his original selection.
Compared with MATCHIQ’s assessment after Ipswich, Bouaddi has made another step forward.
He is no longer receiving meaningful minutes only when Maresca rotates heavily. He has been selected in a substantially restored first eleven, alongside established midfielders, for a match with specific tactical demands.
That is stronger evidence of his place in City’s plans.
It is not yet evidence that he owns a starting position. His passing under pressure, defensive positioning and ability to maintain those standards over full matches remain important questions.
The next time Maresca selects his midfield, Bouaddi will face a different challenge. Can he keep earning important minutes when City have their strongest options available and the opposition demands a different plan?
His progress is no longer measured simply by whether he gets onto the pitch.
It is measured by how often Maresca decides he needs him there.
Sources and related research
- Manchester City — Bouaddi’s Ipswich performance, 17 October 2026
- Manchester City — Brighton Carabao Cup match report, 28 October 2026
- Manchester City — Brighton Premier League team news, 31 October 2026
- Manchester City — Brighton Premier League match report, 31 October 2026
- MATCHIQ — Bouaddi Started. Maresca Let Him Finish.
- MATCHIQ — Why Man City Bought Control Under Pressure