Pep Guardiola was able to call his Mercurial wingers at 3 a.m. to talk about football, which will mean that Lyons Rayan Cherki will feel at home.
Talksport understands that the French playmaker in advanced talks with Guardiolas Manchester City over a summer train of £ 25 million.
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Cherki has been the subject of transmission speculation since his teenager, when after two goals and two templates against Nantes was only 16 years old, Kylian Mbappe explained “Don’t talk too much about age”.
The President of Lyon, Jean-Michel Aulas, went so far that the attacker “is comparable to Lionel Messi in terms of technical quality”.
After he was courted by Manchester United at the age of 15, it is ironically her loud neighbors who are the ones closest to him after he was impressed in Old Trafford in April.
City is in front of the queue of clubs that follow the French U21 -international, while Liverpool was also interested.
When asked by L’Equipe, via Sports witnesses which team fits best, Cherki replied: “I am ready for every system. I work every day, physically and mentally to be ready.
“Above all, I try to choose the best option for myself to develop myself as a person and footballer.”
Cherki added: “You have to talk to me about football, football and more football.
This will be music to Guardiola’s ears that Arjen Robben once described that “if it is 3 a.m., Pep would like to talk to them about football”.
Cherki reveals himself as a student in a similar school of thinking, the fans can surprise, who are familiar with stories about a poor attitude.
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Lyon owner John Textor, who is also a Majority shareholder at Crystal Palace And BotafogoPresent became viral for his flattering judgment of Cherki.
The American businessman supposedly described his own talent as ‘A ******’ in screenshots of leaked news that were spread in French media.
Cherki became Lyon’s youngest scorer with a bold chip in a 7-0 series by French Side Bourg Peronnas in 2020.
It is less known that he wanted to return to the youth team a week earlier after leaving Bordeaux in Ligue 1 on the bench.
After playing against Bourg’s first team, he fell against her teenagers, and according to the goal, his father screamed at him: “If they don’t want to play, they get out!”
Cherki discussed the reputation he cultivated and added L’Equipe: “People don’t know me very well, otherwise I would be less criticized!
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“When people really get to know me – and I invite them to ask the players with whom I played – more than a few are surprised.
“You hear things that people sometimes try to balance over me, and they realize that they are not true.
“I don’t feel like describing myself – this is not my role. And above all, the people who know me are the best to do that.”
Cherki’s trainer and teammates can claim to be on this list of close confidants, including his former manager Rudi Garcia.
“I think Rayan is surrounded by very good people,” he said to RMC. “He is polite and attentive. They are not so without a quality environment.
“We all keep telling him that he will have the career he deserves when he continues to work. The risk is to make him believe that he is already one of the best players on the planet.”
Rayan Cherkis Lyon statistics (2024/25 Ligue 1)
Games – 23
Goals – 6
Assists – 9
Toric acquisition actions – 16
Minutes played – 1,494
“Gerard Hullier had this with Steven Gerrard, whom he started at the age of 17,” continued Garcia.
“He played 15 games, then 25 and then started playing all the season. I had the same with Eden Hazard in Lille. You have to see how the player behaves and is careful.”
Chelsea Icon Hazard is a suitable connection that Cherki recently presented with the award as the best dribbler of the year of Ligue 1.
The Belgian was also no stranger to break records after he got into the scene in France before jumping to England.
Like Hazard, Cherki is comfortable to shoot, pass and dribble with both feet and can play wide and centrally.
He scored 12 goals and added 20 templates for Lyon last season, which was deserved by teammates Ainsley Maitland-Nile’s high praise.
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The Englishman played alongside Bukayo Saka, Marcus Rashford, Jack Grialish, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Jadon Sancho and Phil Foden.
“He is the best natural talent I’ve ever seen,” ex-Arsenal star Maitland-Niles told BBC Sport. “An absolute master, a magician with the ball.”
“He takes a risk, helps us and pulls us onto the field by picking up people and taking muscle diplesging – he is a genius,” he added.
It remains to be seen whether such a playing style translates into the rigid structure of MAN City, whereby Guardiola is often accused of sacrificing individual talents for the team.
In an era of modern football that has the Spanish manager Pionier, the elite level is dominated by tactics.
The city’s fights last season may have convinced Guardiola to go against the grain for one of the last Mavericks in Europe …