Bio
Rayan Ait-Nouri was Manchester City’s first summer signing in 2025, arriving on a five-year deal which keeps him at the Club until 2030.
The 24-year-old full-back joined from Wolverhampton Wanderers, where he made 157 appearances and scored 12 goals in five seasons.
Born and raised in the Parisian suburbs, his footballing tutelage started at local teams AS Val de Fontenay and ASF Le Perreux 94 before his potential caught the eye of Paris FC.
His swift rise continued in their youth team which prompted Ait-Nouri to make the switch to Angers’ academy in July 2016.
Two years later he penned his maiden professional contract, before making his debut for the western France outfit’s away game at Paris Saint Germain in August 2018.
At the start of the 2019/20 season, he established himself as their first choice left-back, making 17 appearances before the season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
He made three appearances for Angers at the start of the following season before he completed a loan move to Wolves in October 2020 and got off to a flying start at Molineux when scoring on debut in a 2-0 win over Crystal Palace.
In his temporary term with the Black Country club, he totalled 24 appearances in all competitions before making his stay permanent at the beginning of the 2021/22 campaign.
The 24-year-old went on to make 27 appearances in each of the following two seasons with a particular highlight being his dramatic late winner over Everton in December 2022 shortly after Julen Lopetegui had taken the Wolves reins.
Although he progressed through three levels of France’s international youth structure, he switched to represent Algeria on the senior stage and made his debut in an Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Nigeria in March 2023.
He has since earned 17 caps for Algeria and Gary O’Neil’s arrival as Wolves boss at the start of 2023/24 saw Ait-Nouri’s progression grow to the next level.
He made 38 appearances throughout the campaign and made 41 last term as he enjoyed his best season to date.
In total, he scored four goals and registered seven Premier League assists while playing a starring role in Wolves’ run of six straight top-flight wins from March to April which saw him help the Midlands outfit record three clean sheets.
That played a crucial role in securing Vitor Pereira’s side’s status in the division for another season.
Now, the 24-year-old will be looking to go that one step further and lift the biggest trophies in the game with City.
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