Rayan Ait-Nouri: Juventus ‘optimistic’ as Man City exit sparks Man Utd transfer domino
Juventus are ‘optimistic’ of signing left-back Rayan Ait-Nouri from Manchester City during the January transfer window in a deal that could ultimately see Manchester United land one of their top targets.
Ait-Nouri made a €36.8 million move to City in the summer of 2025 but has fallen dramatically out of favour under new manager Enzo Maresca.
The Algeria international full-back has failed to play a single Premier League minute this season while his only start has come in the League Cup.
With just 168 minutes of first-team football to his name this season, he has been linked with Manchester United, but according to Gazzetta dello Sport, Juventus are “optimistic” of completing a mid-season deal.
The Italian club already chased Ait-Nouri in August, but City’s stance was that the player was not for sale at that point.
Juventus face financial complications
As Gazzetta points out, however, financing a deal could prove complicated for Juventus. The Turin giants signed an agreement with UEFA in June after they failed to comply with Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations. Should they fail to comply, an initial €6m fine could rise as high as €20m.
In order to finance the Ait-Nouri transfer, Juventus could elect to sell the injury-hit Andrea Cambiaso.
The left-sided 26-year-old has managed to start only two league games for the Bianconeri this season. However, his reputation remains sufficiently high for him to have emerged as a rumoured January transfer target for Barcelona.
The Blaugrana are another club on the hunt for a left-back, with Alejandro Balde entirely out of favour at Camp Nou and Xavi Espart injured.
Man Utd, meanwhile, are heavily linked with Balde.
Ait-Nouri could, therefore, be the kingmaker in a series of important January transfers over left-backs. A move to Juventus could see Cambiaso join Barcelona, who in turn could sell Balde to Man Utd.
