HP Terbaru 2023 – Rayan Cherki is starting to deliver for City in the Premier League

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By Sam McGuire

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The big ticket item for teams in the market for a playmaker was Florian Wirtz. Manchester City wanted the German international, in fact a deal was viewed by many as a formality, but they ultimately lost out to Liverpool with the Reds signing the Bayer Leverkusen No. 10 for a club record £100million fee. 

Pep Guardiola’s side pivoted and raided Lyon to bring the 22-year-old Cherki to the Etihad in a deal believed to be worth an initial £30million. At the time, many queried whether this would be a successful signing. For all of Cherki’s strengths, he was a maverick. He wasn’t necessarily someone many thought would fit in with Guardiola’s strict, almost robotic system, approach and identity. 

After all, Jack Grealish arrived at Manchester City and was viewed as a wildcard to help give the team something a little different. He struggled to live up to the price tag. It was going to be an impossible task in all honesty, how do you justify £100million as a No. 10 when the team is built around getting the best out of a No. 9 who simply puts the ball into the back of the net?

But even without the price tag weighing heavy on Grealish, the England international struggled in general. His best return in a single season for City was five goals and seven assists. The 2022/23 campaign was the only time he scored over three goals and assisted on more than three occasions at the Etihad. 

This is an era of attackers being judged purely on output, and Grealish, simply put, didn’t deliver in this Guardiola system geared more towards repetition rather than someone who plays on instinct. If he struggled when he was already up to speed with the rigours of the English top-flight, how would Cherki manage when questions over his attitude and work rate had followed his career closely? 

Heading into the season, the narrative was that he’d struggle with the intensity and physicality of the league. And while he has been used sparingly this season, racking up just 488 minutes in the Premier League this term, Cherki has made a lot of people look a little silly. 

The 22-year-old sits second in the English top-flight for assists with six.  He has four assists across his last four Premier League outings, including three in his last two starts. His standout performance was against Sunderland, a game in which he claimed two assists. His showing earned him a 9.2 FotMob rating having completed the most dribbles (five) and creating the most chances (six). In the 3-0 win over Palace last weekend, a game he was given a FotMob rating of 8.4 for, he, again, created the most chances in the match (three) and completed the most dribbles (five). 

Wirtz, meanwhile, is yet to register an assist in the Premier League. Arne Slot has yet to figure out a role for the German maestro and he’s been in and out of the team with Liverpool struggling. 

Guardiola has a clear role in mind for Cherki and the player is fully buying into what is needed for him to be a success in the Premier League. Bruno Fernandes is the only player with more assists to his name this term. Despite Jérémy Doku receiving rave reviews for his showings for City this season, and he has been a revelation since scaling his output, it is the City No. 10 who tops the Expected Assists per 90 chart with 0.47. 

While normally this sort of output would be expected to slow down, the way City play and the way Erling Haaland continues to be freakish, goalscoring robot, you wouldn’t be surprised if Cherki carried these creative exploits across the entire campaign if given the opportunities on the pitch. 

With the way Guardiola keeps talking about his No. 10, something must’ve gone horribly wrong if he’s not been a regular for the title chasers come the end of the season, though he might have to dial it back a little bit. 

Following yet another assist, this time against Palace, the City boss singled Cherki out for praise, saying: “Rayan, with his quality in the final third, has special vision.”

It’s just about tailoring his particular, and unique, skillset to the right situations and moments. 

Against Sunderland, he was asked about Cherki’s outrageous rabona assist. His response? 

“I want him to make a good cross. If he doesn’t make a good cross, I don’t like it. He did it and it’s fine. I never saw Messi doing these kind of things. Messi’s the best player to play the game. The biggest quality of Messi is the simplicity of Messi, the simple things he does perfectly. The biggest players like Rayan have to learn this. But he’s so young.”

He responded too, playing a simple pass to Foden in the build-up for his goal against the Eagles. If Guardiola can refine that side of Cherki’s game, where less is more, Premier League defenders are going to be in trouble. He headed into the campaign as someone viewed as a risky signing. Midway through, he’s looking like one of the bargain buys of the summer. 

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(Cover image from IMAGO)

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