Rayan Cherki, Manchester City’s divisive new ‘genius’: Why coaches are split on £34m superstar – and why he is key to Pep Guardiola’s rebuild after slipping through United’s fingers

Rayan Cherki has already endeared himself to Manchester City supporters before kicking a ball for the club.

Pep Guardiola’s side are closing in on the £34m signing of the Lyon attacking midfielder in time for him to join them at the Club World Cup but he already has an advantage over most new signings trying to impress the fans. And that’s because Cherki made enemies of Manchester United by cupping his private parts to goad home supporters after scoring at Old Trafford during the Europa League quarter-final.

But that is not the only memorable thing Cherki has done recently. He also scored a stunner on his senior France debut – in a 5-4 Nations League defeat to Spain last Thursday night.

And the only surprise in France is that fans in England aren’t already aware of his talents. In the Lyon camp it has become a running joke. How had fans and clubs in England not realised that Cherki is one of the true geniuses of European football?

‘If they have only just discovered Rayan, it’s because they haven’t watched much football in recent months,’ team-mate Corentin Tolisso laughs. ‘Rayan has done things that have been making the rounds on social media for a while.’

Cherki has been on City and Pep Guardiola’s radar for some time and is viewed as a fundamental part of a rebuild that has felt long overdue after a topsy-turvy campaign in east Manchester. 

In the Lyon camp it became a running joke. How had fans and clubs in England not realised that Rayan Cherki is one of the true geniuses of European football?

He has been on Manchester City and Pep Guardiola ’s radar for some time and is viewed as a fundamental part of a rebuild that has felt long overdue after a topsy-turvy campaign

Cherki made enemies of Manchester United by cupping his private parts to goad home supporters after scoring at Old Trafford during the Europa League quarter-final 

The infamous gesture from Cherki at Old Trafford in April

With Kevin De Bruyne leaving and a 13-point gap to champions Liverpool to make up, Cherki will join as part of a revamped City midfield, with Tijjani Reijnders on his way from AC Milan, while the versatile Rayan Ait-Nouri will arrive from Wolves.

There is a race against time to register him before the Club World Cup deadline on Tuesday afternoon.

There is excitement, plenty of it after 12 goals and 20 assists in all competitions for Lyon, but the prism with which Cherki has long been viewed under is that his flaws are magnified more than his obvious God-given strengths.

Why, many have asked, has no elite club moved to get him before if he is the ‘genius’ his team-mates make him out to be? He has been accused of laziness, of wasting his talents.

‘There was no other big club interested in Cherki before now because of his performances,’ Le Progres reporter Arnaud Clement told Mail Sport. ‘He’s been really impressive on a technical level since his childhood, but previously he had so much waste in his game.

‘Only since the beginning of this season has he been really decisive and so important for Lyon in every game.’

Cherki was a footballing phenomenon in every sense of the word when he burst onto the scene in his early teenage years. His street football style was unorthodox and caught the eye of scouts and social media, where he soon became a star in his own right. Manchester United courted him when he was just 15.

At that age he was quickly accelerated to Lyon’s Under 19s, where he became the youngest scorer in the UEFA Youth League (15 years and 33 days), the junior version of the Champions League. Lyon also included him in first-team training sessions and by 16, he became the club’s youngest ever goalscorer.

He became the youngest scorer in the Youth League (15 years and 33 days). Lyon also included him in first-team training session and by 16 he became Lyon’s youngest ever goalscorer

Cherki was a footballing phenomenon in every sense of the word when he burst onto the scene in his early teenage years

His street football style was unorthodox and caught the eye of scouts and social media. Manchester United courted him when he was just 15

L’Equipe waxed lyrical of Cherki’s genius and wrote at the time that ‘Manchester United is under the spell of the 15-year-old player’.

Some of the Cherki entourage met with United officials and got a look at facilities at Old Trafford and Carrington.

But that was 2019 and, with no deal struck, Cherki remained in the south of France where criticism, as much as adulation, would tell the tale of a career that has been laced with cynicism.

Heading into this season, many saw Cherki as a player wasting his talent. Lackadaisical in his defensive work, often trying tricks while down to walking pace, not getting enough goals and assists. Others pointed to his attitude as a stumbling block to him making it at the top level.

One historical example saw Cherki react poorly to being benched in a league match against Bordeaux, so much so that he demanded to be sent back to the youth team by way of protest. Even his own father was left bemused by the strop.

Rudi Garcia, the man who kickstarted Cherki’s career at Lyon and one of his six coaches he’s worked for, sent a warning to his successors about the maverick that is Cherki.

‘We all tell him that he’ll have the career he deserves, provided he keeps working,’ Garcia said before he departed. ‘The danger is making him believe that he’s already one of the best players in the world.’

Peter Bosz was more blunt when it came to why Cherki was not an established starter under him.

Cherki entourage met with United officials and got a look at facilities at Old Trafford and Carrington

Heading into this season, many saw Cherki as a player wasting his talent. Lackadaisical in his defensive work, often trying tricks while down to walking pace, not getting enough goals

After he scored a stunner on his senior France debut – in a 5-4 Nations League defeat to Spain on Thursday night – similar astonishment at his talent surfaced online

‘I know Rayan is very popular,’ Bosz said. ‘It’s good for him and for the fans. But I choose my players to win. If I think I can win with Rayan, he’ll play. If not, it will be someone else.’

Fabio Grosso, another of his Lyon coaches, albeit only for seven games, was the most scathing of all.

‘He’s a player, not an exceptional player,’ Grosso said. ‘He’s a player like any other, with certain additional qualities. But technical qualities are not enough: there are also mental and physical aspects. He has enormous technical talent, but he needs to work on the rest.’

For team-mate and former Arsenal striker Alexandre Lacazette, who had heard all of this noise over the years, here was a young player he felt needed an arm around the shoulder.

‘I wondered what was going on with him because I saw his talent and I heard a lot of things about him that I didn’t understand,’ Lacazette said last year.

‘When in fact, he’s just a player who needs help, to be talked to, to be told what he should do most and perhaps do a little less.’

Cherki’s inner circle has been a source of great frustration in France. Previously he was managed by former journalist, Bilel Ghazi, who has close links to the mother of Kylian Mbappe. It was a partnership that had Lyon’s ownership furious more often than not.

Last summer, with just one year remaining on his deal and interest from Borussia Dortmund, Ghazi tried to land Cherki a new deal at Lyon and so met with owner John Textor, who also owns stakes in Crystal Palace and Botafogo. Less than 48 hours after the meeting the details had been leaked.

With Kevin De Bruyne leaving and a 13-point gap to champions Liverpool to make up, Cherki will join as part of a revamped City midfield

Last summer, with just one year remaining on his deal, Cherki’s agent Bilel Ghazi tried to land him a new deal at Lyon and so met with owner John Textor

Surprise around Cherki will quickly wear off if it hasn’t done already. Guardiola teaming up with a player with limitless potential is a terrifying prospect for the rest of the league

‘Ah Bilel, you cost me 20 Euros!’ Textor posted on Instagram. ‘I bet the guys that it would take you at least 48 hours to leak our chat and distort our proposal into a propaganda piece. We love Rayan, (and) will offer a new contract… he should stay a while! #NewAgentPlease.’

Cherki, who penned a 12-month extension through to 2026, heeded Textor’s advice because from October he did have new representation as he teamed up with one of France’s ‘super agents’ in Moussa Sissoko. He is widely seen as one of the most powerful agents in France, working with star players such as Dayot Upamecano, Desiré Doué and Ousmane Dembele.

An exit from Lyon then became inevitable. That it was to City may surprise, given United’s long-standing interest going back six years, but Guardiola knows a thing or two about maximising brilliance.

Now it is up to Cherki to stop grabbing his crotch and start grabbing the headlines. 

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