How Iniesta’s YouTube skills shaped Manchester City’s Ayoub Bouaddi

Manchester City’s 18-year-old talent Ayoub Bouaddi has revealed that Andres Iniesta was the player he watched most closely as a child, searching YouTube every day for clips of the former Barcelona midfielder’s dribbling.

According to Spanish newspaper Sport, Bouaddi did not need to watch dozens of full matches to appreciate Iniesta’s understanding of the game. Compilations of the Spain international’s best moments were enough to leave a lasting impression on the young midfielder and an entire generation of football fans.

Bouaddi spoke about his childhood influence during an appearance on a club podcast, where he explained the appeal of a player whose technique often appeared effortless.

“If I had to choose a player I watched, I would choose Andres Iniesta,” Bouaddi said with an innocent smile. “I did not watch many of his matches, but what I saw was amazing. I grew up in the generation of YouTube video compilations and, when I was a child, I searched every day for Iniesta dribbling clips.”

The Moroccan has since attracted global attention at the World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico, particularly during Morocco’s opening match against Brazil.

Despite being only 18, Bouaddi controlled the midfield, dictated the tempo and outplayed opponents with considerably more experience. His display also highlighted the exceptional technical qualities that have made him one of the tournament’s most closely watched young players.

His admiration for Iniesta is significant because the former Barcelona player was renowned for making difficult skills look simple. His ability to control the ball and guide it into the right spaces, turn away from pressure in tight areas and change the speed of an attack were central to his game.

Iniesta was also famous for moving the ball between an opponent’s legs before accelerating in the opposite direction. Bouaddi, while still at an early stage of his career and not directly comparable with the Spanish great, has shown glimpses of a similar technical quality.

Manchester City became convinced by the potential Bouaddi displayed at the World Cup and paid nearly 100 million euros to sign him, ahead of several major European clubs.

The midfielder had already begun to draw attention during his time at Lille. At 16 years and three days, he became the youngest player to appear in a men’s European club competition.

Bouaddi later produced another standout performance against Real Madrid in the Champions League. Aged 17, he played the full 90 minutes in midfield and made a decisive contribution to Lille’s 1-0 victory in a match that included Eduardo Camavinga, Aurelien Tchouameni, Federico Valverde and Jude Bellingham, with Luka Modric and Arda Guler introduced later.

However, the distance between the Iniesta clips Bouaddi watched as a child and the comparisons now being made with leading Spanish midfielders remains considerable. He still needs to develop his own footballing identity and show that he can deliver his talent consistently at the highest level.