The Creative Spark: Rayan Cherki

Manchester City and Kevin De Bruyne are heading in separate ways this summer as the Belgium midfielder heads to Napoli for the final years of his career. Leaving a hole in the squad for a creative player. There are many talented players in the team, all bringing different qualities, but nobody has the qualities of De Bruyne. Nobody has the combination of skills De Bruyne has. You cannot replace him like-for-like, but there are players with the same vision for a pass.

It has been reported that Rayan Cherki will join Manchester City after reaching an agreement on an around 30M - 35M Euro fee. Medical expected today and will join up with the squad for the Club World Cup.

The French footballer, born in Lyon and with parents of Algerian descent, is a product of the Lyon youth academy. At the age of 15, he was playing with their reserve side in the 5th division of French football. By 2019, he's making his debut for the first team.

22/23, when he was 18, was the first breakthrough season, starting 21 matches in Ligue 1 and providing ten goal contributions (4G 6A). The next season wasn't the next step up, starting 19 matches and providing seven goal contributions. For a team that spent the first half of that season in the relegation zone, a player who had to bear plenty of criticism despite being only 19. Taken out the team for the second half of the season, and it wasn’t until the end that you got some glimpses of Cherki finding his form, starting the last few matches.

The 24/25season has been Rayan Cherki putting it all together consistently for Lyon. Finishing the season by leading the league for assists (10), xA (11.7), passes into the penalty area (77), and shot-creating actions (146). The best creator in Ligue 1 and a body of work that shows Cherki is ready for the move. He earned his first call-up to the French National Team for the Nations League Semi-Final match, going on to have a special cameo off the bench against Spain. When he came on, France was losing 5-1. Scoring from outside the box, providing an assist, and Cherki helped drive France to 5-4. Nearly equalizing in the final minutes. All in his first appearance, with the pressure that brings and spot light on him. Tells you a lot about his confidence and mentality.

Something that I mentioned in the article on Tijjani Reijnders was how few minutes he’s played despite being 26. For Rayan Cherki, it feels like he should be older than 21, given how long he’s been around and spoken about. That would suggest he’s racked up a lot of minutes at Lyon, right?

No, he’s been eased in as much as there have been reasons why Cherki was taken out of the lineup. Being a young player, with huge pressure during some tough seasons for the club. Cherki hasn’t started more than twenty-two league matches in a single Ligue 1 season.

Which stands out much further when you compare those league-only minutes to other talented young players around Europe. Foden was slowly eased in at Manchester City, with the squad competition being a big factor for that. Similar level of minutes to Jamal Musiala, slightly behind Florian Wirtz. Bukayo Saka miles in front.

This season, for Lyon, Cherki has played mostly on the right wing but has a lot of license to drift across the final third and drop deep to collect the ball. His close control and vision for chipped passes along the touchline gave the team ways past opposition press. Since he started playing for the first team, Cherki has made 56 appearances at RW, 51 as an AM, and 18 at LW.

This gives you two clear pathways into the team, whether it be at RW or in a central AM role. Certainly, in possession, there is no reason why Cherki cannot play either of those roles. You think about how Phil Foden drifted inside during the 23/24 season. Kevin De Bruyne is floating across the final third. The 4-2-2-2 setup we’ve seen in the last run of games with two 10s. He’s comfortable in all of those.

Two-footed attacking midfielder who is as comfortable out wide as he is in more advanced midfield positions. Slight preference for his left foot (56% of his passes), with only one other player more balanced than Cherki in Ligue 1 this season. When it comes to shots, he’s got 22 with each foot. Perfectly balanced. His ability to use both feet, coupled with his vision, is the standout quality that demands a more central free role to get the best out of Cherki. If he’s always playing out wide, you limit the angles and don’t take advantage of the skill. Ousmane Dembele this season for PSG is a great example, shifting to false nine to play his career-best football.

This is the best creative passer in Ligue 1 this season. An elite corner taker. Looking at his key passes and assist map included below, Cherki can create with both feet and at any angle around the box. All of which is crucial to breaking down low blocks. 👇

Skilled manipulator of the ball, under pressure, in tight spaces, he'll find the separation needed to make a pass or dribble his way out. Flicks, ticks, and how well he disguises actions make him incredibly difficult to anticipate. All of that makes Cherki useful, dropping deep to collect the ball along the touchline.

Doing that centrally comes with more risk, and more trust is needed in the player. Musiala has done it for Bayern Munich this season successfully, leaning on his strengths to dribble with the ball. De Bruyne has done it throughout his City career, mostly to utilize his passing range, and that’s what I’d expect to see from Cherki. He’s excellent at dropping to the centre circle, turning on the ball, and picking out a runner on the right side with a long raking pass.

Here are examples of assists Cherki has provided in Ligue 1 this season. From corners, crosses into the box, chipped balls to runners, and disguising reverse passes.

More here from a free kick, through balls into the striker, and a couple of crosses on the right side. Playing as a right winger, you see Cherki get into the box regularly to cross from that spot, but given more freedom, you’ll see him come over the left side to create as well.

Something to keep an eye on is his volume of crosses. The delivery quality is undoubtedly there with Cherki. This season, he’s averaged 5.20 per 90. Kevin De Bruyne has averaged across his entire Manchester City career 8.19 per 90. He’s an outlier in that regard, and we could see that shared across players. Ait-Nouri, arriving in the summer, is going to add plenty of deliveries from the left side.

Another aspect of his game to keep an eye on is shooting. Good quality ball striker who can lace it, but has been mostly trying to place the ball in the goal. Needs to increase volume. De Bruyne had taken 3.02 shots per 90 this season compared to the 1.98 of Cherki. A more central role will open up better positions to shoot from on the edge of the box. As we saw in his cameo against Spain last week.

He's not proven to be an aggressive presser or duel winner, but he's shown, especially this season, to be versatile in pressing either central or wide areas. Capable of applying pressure across ninety minutes as part of the forward line. Can recognise and wait for triggers before pressing either in-to-out of, locking against the touch line or out-to-in. So you have options in the OOP setup. Important to mention that Cherki has never had a coach at Lyon who wants his team to press high like Wirtz has at Leverkusen and Musiala at Bayern Munich.

Here is a pizza chart comparing Rayan Cherki to other forwards on defensive metrics. By no means is Cherki leading those, but your starting point is much better than people are suggesting.

If he were to move to Manchester City, then I'd expect giving him a role in the 1st line high up the pitch. Giving Cherki simple triggers to read and be supported by a right-back is the straightforward option as a right winger. Against Germany in the recent Nations League match, you saw Cherki press in a front two for a 4-4-2 and did a perfectly fine job of applying pressure on the opposition defenders. Add to that how Haaland can press when fit and firing, like he was in the last Norway match against Italy, I think you make that pairing work.

Provided you find the right fit in your wingers. Marmoush and Bobb are the first two that come to mind, but Savinho, Foden, and Doku are all capable. Finding the right balance out of possession is going to be top of Guardiola’s list at the start of this season. The quality of Cherki on the ball, I think, will force his hand to find him a spot in the team centrally.

For the concerns on Cherki’s attitude, which is something he recently addressed publicly, I have to direct you towards the comments made by his teammates and coaches. This is just one example, from Alexandre Lacazette, which reminds me a lot of what De Bruyne said about Raheem Sterling. The media paints one picture, but when you get to know the person, you realise it’s completely different.

His ability on the ball with both feet, bringing the creativity every City fan is looking for, and at that reported price point, it is a no-brainer. The step he's taken in putting together a full season removes a lot of the concerns I initially had about his consistency. I do think, after watching more of him, that the worries about his OOP work are overplayed.

The job Guardiola will have is finding the right balance in the team, as from what I’ve seen, even in the cameo against Spain, is that Cherki will force himself into a central role. The confidence and mentality he has to step up in his debut for France, few have. Useful across the pitch to find solutions past an opposition press, so a free role centrally facilitates that. For Cherki, he’s got to buy in, show the work OOP in return, and deliver when he gets on the ball.

Guardiola is more than capable of finding that balance. Rayan Cherki has so far shown he’s got the quality to succeed here. Manchester City is a team set up to facilitate his strengths more than any other. This is a signing to be excited about, and you don’t have to wait long to see him in a City shirt.

If you haven’t checked out our articles on the other two summer signings, you can find the link to them both below. 👇

If you’re looking for more content on Rayan Cherki, then check out this podcast I did with Alex Barker on the Ninety Three Twenty. 👇