After his quiet debut for Manchester City against Wydad AC, Rayan Cherki grabbed the headlines for the Sky Blues as they thrashed Al Ain 6-0 at the FIFA Club World Cup.
The 21-year-old scored his first goal in a City shirt, as he placed the ball into the bottom corner from the edge of the box after Erling Haaland played a pass into his teammate’s path.
Cherki seemed frustrated against Wydad and he channeled his emotions correctly by instantly impacting proceedings off the bench, providing the pre-assist for Oscar Bobb’s strike and was close to doing the same for Phil Foden, who fluffed his lines.
The Frenchman’s partnership with Haaland caught the eye as the pair linked up on several instances and were close to combining for more than one goal.
Manchester City fans lauded £33 million man Cherki and made the point that his best position is in a roaming number 10 role after the former Lyon attacker’s latest outing.
Man City fans say Rayan Cherki is best as a number 10 after win vs Al Ain
One Manchester City fan claimed that Rayan Cherki would become a superstar if he plays in such a free role after his heroics against Al Ain: “Cherki in the free-roaming role. He switches from right, centre, left and is able to create from any angle of the pitch. Not to mention he’s two-footed. Movies are going to be made.”
A second supporter rubbished the idea that the youngster should play out wide, backing him to play centrally by writing: “Anybody who said Rayan Cherki should be locked to one side of the pitch as a wider player shouldn’t be taken seriously, respectfully. You want Cherki to roam freely and access as many zones as possible from the centre because he can simply play football from all of those zones, Why? Plays with both feet well, operates from any angle with no bias, has pausa, is a consistent triple threat (pass/carry/shoot).”
Another Manchester City fan claimed that a player as comfortable with both feet like Cherki deserves to be given a free role after he thrived against Al Ain: “This game shouldn’t be the one to tell you that Rayan Cherki is essentially a zone-less player. We bang on about ‘freedom’ but he’s a player that deserves to roam everywhere and play his football because of how good he is with both feet.”
A fourth supporter simply reacted to the City midfielder’s display by writing: “Imagine watching this and thinking right-winger.”
Other fans lauded Cherki, with one raving about his performance, stating: “Unbelievable, unstoppable. He runs through the pitch with ice in his veins. Don Rayan Cherki.”
Finally, a sixth Manchester City fan mentioned that Cherki can create from all angles lauding his display by noting: “This Cherki takeover is nuts. He doesn’t know angle bias.”
Manchester City fans already adore Cherki and the player must feel hugely appreciated since making the move to the Etihad Stadium.
Pep Guardiola raves about Rayan Cherki after Man City vs Al Ain
Pep Guardiola hailed Cherki, much like the fans after he turned heads for Manchester City against Al Ain.
“We know Rayan Cherki’s potential. I see a lot of things in training and I say to myself: ‘What a player.’
Guardiola said: “But as a new player, like Tijjani Reijnders, Marcus Bettinelli, Rayan Ait-Nouri, they need a little time to get to know us, to know what we want.”
