Rayan Cherki was announced as a new Manchester City player on Tuesday night.
After a tough weekend of negotiations between Man City and Lyon, the two clubs eventually reached an agreement on a transfer fee of £34m for the 21-year-old, which was the final hurdle in Pep Guardiola adding one of his top targets to his squad ahead of the FIFA Club World Cup.
There was a lot of talk around the midfield talent after Cherki impressed with France against Spain last week in the UEFA Nations League, which may have caught the attention of other clubs.
Despite this recent display, the midfielder has not done enough to fully impress ESPN pundit Don Hutchison, who has now stated that Man City should have signed a £70m Premier League star instead of the Frenchman.
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Man City should have signed Crystal Palace’s Eberechi Eze
Eberechi Eze started for England against Senegal on Tuesday night, and the Crystal Palace star was one of the only players to come away from the contest with a bit of credit.
Speaking about the Three Lions’ latest match, Hutchison stated that he was impressed with Eze and that Man City should have signed the 26-year-old over Cherki.
“That is nowhere near England’s starting 11. We were talking about Cherki before. Eze is the player. Eze is the player Man City should have been after,” the pundit said on ESPN FC.
“He just looked a cut above with everything he done tonight. He was silky, he was secure, he saw backheels that were not really on. He is just a kid that is absolutely flying.”
Man City were linked with Eze this summer as the Crystal Palace star has a £70m release clause in his contract at Selhurst Park, and the midfielder would have been a great signing as the Englishman has been in incredible form of late.
However, there are clear reasons as to why City went for Cherki, as the 21-year-old is younger and cheaper, while there is also more room for development.
How Eberechi Eze compares to Rayan Cherki
Erling Haaland has admitted that he is a big fan of Eze, and it is not hard to see why, as the Crystal Palace star ended the 2024/25 campaign in phenomenal form, which included scoring the winner in the FA Cup final against Man City.
Both the 26-year-old and Cherki play in similar roles, and although the Frenchman is technically better than the Eagles star, there is an argument that the Premier League midfielder is the better of the two at present.
| Player | Games | Goals | Assists | Minutes |
| Eberechi Eze | 43 | 14 | 11 | 3303 |
| Rayan Cherki | 44 | 12 | 20 | 3097 |
Long-term, Man City made the right investment as Cherki’s ceiling is higher than that of Eze; however, it would have been exciting to see the Crystal Palace star in a sky blue shirt.
Eze will likely get his move to a bigger club this summer, and throughout the 2025/26 campaign, Man City will know if they made a mistake or not.
