Pep Guardiola could have the chance to sign his next Bernardo Silva at Manchester City by landing a transfer deal for Rayan Cherki.
Not for the first time, the 28-year-old has been linked with a move away from the Manchester club this summer, with Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain and Al-Hilal looking to sign him.
Should the midfielder find himself leaving the Etihad Stadium in the near future, one player that the Citizens have been linked with recently who we feel could be Guardiola’s next version of Silva is Cherki.
Cherki could be Guardiola’s next Silva
At the age of 19, the Frenchman has already made 102 senior appearances for Olympique Lyon across all competitions, scoring 14 goals and delivering 16 assists along the way.
This shows how useful he can be in terms of making goal contributions, which is something that Silva has done on a regular basis during his time at City with 55 goals and 59 assists to his name in 306 appearances.
Last season saw the teenager feature in 34 Ligue 1 games for Lyon, across which he showed his versatility by occasionally stepping away from his usual attacking-midfield role and featuring on the left and right wings.
This mirrors one of the factors that Silva, who was also playing in France before joining City, offers Pep Guardiola’s side as he featured in many different positions last season.
Even though he’s only young, the Frenchman has already been described as a “world-class” talent by talent scout Jacek Kulig on Twitter.
With all of that in mind, it’s easy to see why Cherki has emerged on City’s radar and why we feel that he has what it takes to be a top signing for the treble winners should they find themselves without Silva in their squad next season.
