Sparkling with Manchester City, Rayan Cherki impresses as much as he intrigues.
Rayan Cherki impresses on the other side of the Channel. Transferred from Olympique Lyonnais to Manchester City during the last summer transfer window, the French attacking midfielder continues to arouse admiration. Starting with that of Pep Guardiola, who never misses an opportunity to salute his talent. Result: since the start of the season, the former Lyonnais has stacked up XXL performances.
The figures confirm this impression. According to choose,
“Rayan Cherki displays the best ratio of minutes played per goal or assist among all players in the five major European championships, in all competitions, this season”. Concretely, the French international is decisive every 74 minutes, for a total of seven goals and eleven assists.
“He destabilizes me”
An exceptional performance, which nevertheless does not prevent certain reservations. On TéléfootBixente Lizarazu recently delivered a nuanced analysis. The former left-back highlights the duality of the player, as brilliant as he is unpredictable, and potentially confusing for a coach like Pep Guardiola.
“He is capable of strokes of genius, like his decisive pass for Foden, but also of nonchalance and a lot of waste. He needs to clean this up.”he estimated.
An observation shared, in part, by Phil Foden. The English attacking midfielder was complimentary of his new teammate, while emphasizing the adaptation time needed to tame his style. “I don’t always know what he’s going to do, whether he’s going to try a heel or use his other foot. The more we play together, the more natural it will become. But sometimes he destabilizes me myself, so I imagine how the defenders might feel.”confided the Mancunian, in comments reported by Foot Market.