After announcing Rayan Ait-Nouri’s signing on Monday, Manchester City have now confirmed the arrival of his namesake Rayan Cherki a day later.
Cherki is excited about working with Pep Guardiola and considering how tremendously gifted the Frenchman is, their union could be a match made in heaven.
The Manchester City boss’ track record of getting the best out of attackers is second to none, with names like Lionel Messi, Thomas Mueller and Kevin De Bruyne instantly springing to mind.
With Erling Haaland seemingly excited about Cherki’s signing as well, it seems like the Sky Blues’ camp are aware that a truly outstanding young player is being added to their roster.
Rayan Cherki shows winning mentality by taking responsibility for Man City’s success
After signing for the English giants, Rayan Cherki admitted that he is ready to take the responsibility of helping Guardiola’s men win trophies, telling Manchester City’s official website: “The responsibility to help the team continue winning is something I want to embrace. I would only leave Lyon for a project I really believe in and everything at City suggests I can develop my game and help the team be successful in the future.”
It seems likely that a serial winner like Pep Guardiola will be over the moon about Cherki’s declaration.
Previously, Guardiola praised Savinho’s willingness to stand out and the 21-year-old’s admission at Manchester City suggests that he is ready to take the Premier League by storm as well.
Recently, the Catalan tactician was quoted by ESPN claiming that he wishes to manage players who do not hesitate to make a statement at some of the most daunting stadiums in Europe: “And especially [give me] players that go to Anfield, go to [Real] Madrid, the [Santiago] Bernabeu, Barcelona, Camp Nou or wherever and say: ‘Okay, I’m going to play my best.’
It seems like Hugo Viana seriously took Pep Guardiola’s admission into consideration with his latest signing, with Cherki revealing he is ready for Manchester City and their style of play even before putting pen to paper.
Guardiola aims to win the Premier League again and while plenty of the discourse around the youngster will centre on how he fits in at City, most importantly, he seems to have the mindset to lead them to silverware.
What Rayan Cherki is actually like behind the scenes
Pep Guardiola would have been encouraged after hearing Alexandre Lacazette praise Cherki’s disciplined lifestyle and willingness to reach the top.
“What people might not know is Rayan works really hard behind the scenes. He puts in a lot of extra training to stay fit and maintain a very healthy lifestyle. Before I met him, there were a lot of preconceived ideas, mostly negative, a lot of questions, too. From what I saw on TV, he was clearly a huge talent, and I kept wondering why he wasn’t getting more playing time.”
Lacazette also referenced Cherki’s breakthrough campaign last season where he amassed 12 goals and 20 assists for Lyon, which was an insight into his constant growth as a player.
| RAYAN CHERKI STATS LAST SEASON | |
| STARTS | 34 |
| GOALS | 12 |
| ASSISTS | 20 |
“This 2024/25 season has been incredible. It’s like something clicked in his mind over the summer, like he finally understood what he could bring to the team…the key factor, I think, was this mindset: ‘If I make the team shine, I’ll shine too.’
Manchester City seemingly like Cherki’s character and if he takes to English football instantly, the Sky Blues’ domestic rivals would have every reason to be concerned.
