Manchester City have had a very active start to the summer, with the club poised to announce several new signings this week.
After a dismal 2024/25 season, it is vital for the club to respond in a big way – and the club are set to instigate a rebuild under Hugo Viana.
It commenced in January, with four new players arriving.
And it is continuing now, but a handful of players will be departing. Kevin De Bruyne has already left and will soon be confirmed as a new Napoli player.
And Jack Grealish will also leave Manchester City, although his next destination is currently unclear.
Manchester City have agreed a deal to sign Rayan Ait-Nouri from Wolves, with the player having now done his medical.
Tijjani Reijnders will also join Manchester City from AC Milan. Both of these players should play at the Club World Cup.
Another player Manchester City are trying to sign is Rayan Cherki – and simply put, this would be one extremely fun addition by the club.
Man City can find their new Samir Nasri in Rayan Cherki
After initially showing interest in Florian Wirtz, City quickly switched their attention to Rayan Cherki, the highly coveted attacking midfielder from Lyon.
Cherki just enjoyed a sensational campaign, and is leaving the French club.
Man City saw a bid rejected for Cherki.
But it now looks like this transfer will happen, with Manchester City reaching an agreement with Lyon over Cherki today. And that is exciting, because Cherki is the kind of maverick player you don’t see too often in football today.
Cherki is an output machine, having scored 12 goals and made 20 assists in 44 appearances in 2024/25.
But it’s the way he plays the game that has fans captivated.
Cherki compilations on social media are frequent, because he’s always pulling tricks and doing outrageous things in games.
And City did have a player like this once upon a time in the form of Samir Nasri.
Nasri joined the club from Arsenal in 2011 for around £25 million, and went on to play five seasons for the club, before joining Sevilla on loan for the 2016/17 campaign and then joining them permanently.
Nasri was a player who would always get fans out of their chairs and delight people with his technical quality and creativity.
Kyle Walker said Nasri is the most intelligent footballer he’s ever faced, which really does say it all when you consider who Walker has had battles with.
Cherki and Nasri similarities are clear
It would be fascinating to see Cherki in a City shirt.
And there are definitely parallels between him and Nasri.
The pair are virtually the same height, play in the same kind of positions (between the lines and out wide), and even both could have played for Algeria instead of France.
| Rayan Cherki for Lyon | Samir Nasri for Man City |
| Appearances – 189 | Appearances – 176 |
| Goals – 25 | Goals – 27 |
| Assists – 45 | Assists – 39 |
Nasri was a free spirit on the pitch and the same can be said for Cherki, which is exactly what City really need right now.
There were so many times in 2024/25 when City were unable to break down their opposition, so hopefully the club can get Cherki and he can help pick those especially tricky locks moving forward, just as Nasri used to do.
