Man City vs. Wydad AC: Rayan Cherki, Phil Foden prediction made before Club World Cup opener

Manchester City expert Steven McInerney from Esteemed Kompany believes that Phil Foden and new signing Rayan Cherki will “love playing football together” in Pep Guardiola’s side.

Cherki, 21, joined the Citizens for a reported £34m from Lyon earlier this month and is one of four new arrivals at the Etihad Stadium this summer along with Tijjani Reijnders, Rayan Ait-Nouri and Marcus Bettinelli.

All four players have been named in Guardiola’s 27-man squad for the FIFA Club World Cup and are in contention to be involved in City’s opening Group G fixture against Moroccan outfit Wydad AC at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia on Wednesday.

McInerney is excited to see the new additions settle in at City and is particularly intrigued by how French playmaker Cherki could get the best out of fellow “street footballer” Foden, who endured a difficult 2024-25 campaign.

A year after winning the PFA and Premier League Player of the Year awards, Foden endured a "frustrating season" and suffered an alarming drop-off in form at a time when he was dealing with physical and mental fatigue, but he is now keen to rediscover his best form this summer.

Sharing his thoughts on Man City’s 27-man squad, McInerney told Sports Mole: “It's great. I'm excited to see the signings over the last year or so that have had more time, like [Abdukodir] Khusanov, [Omar] Marmoush, Nico Gonzalez.

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Will Foden and Cherki “sing from the same song sheet” at Man City?

“I think we're going to see a bit of redemption for people like Phil Foden, maybe Rico Lewis - I say redemption, they weren't terrible but they had underwhelming seasons compared to the years before.

“I want to see how they interact with [Rayan] Ait-Nouri, Tijjani Reijnders and Rayan Cherki - obviously Cherki’s the exciting one. All the new signings are exciting, but Cherki in particular. He's been the main talking point amongst City fans and I can't wait to see how Guardiola lines up and what he's planning to do.

“There's going to be a lot of new ideas, a lot of new partnerships and a lot of new link-ups which, as a football fan, I can't wait to see. I've got my expectations, they might be unrealistic, but I really can't deny the fact that I can't wait to see Phil Foden play with Rayan Cherki.

“I think they're going to love playing football together. I think they're both street footballers. Phil always gets better in a confident side. He does need a confident side around him. He's not the guy to really put the teams on his back massively.

“He did it a little bit the year before, of course, when he won the Player of the Year awards, but he does need a functioning team around him to let him express himself, because he's better when he's got more of the ball, to put it simply. I think those two (Foden and Cherki) sing from the same song sheet. I think that's going to be really fun to watch.”

McInerney added: “I'm looking forward to seeing an actual left-back. City don't do left-backs, [but] we've got one now [in Ait-Nouri]. I can't wait to see Reijnders, who I think generally looks like a younger, taller [Ilkay] Gundogan. He'll bring a bit of energy and physicality and a technical mastery to the midfield alongside Rodri. It should be really exciting.”

‘Cherki is going to be Guardiola's dream’

Man City will be regarded as strong favourites to pick up maximum points in their opening Club World Cup fixture against Wydad AC, and McInerney hopes that Guardiola will quickly bed some of his new signings into a system that showed signs of promise during the second half of last season.

“I want to see Guardiola really lay the foundations for next season,” said McInerney. “I think we saw the green shoots of new ideas last year. From January to the end of the season, City were the most in-form team in the league.

“It didn't feel like that watching City for an awful long time, but Guardiola did make changes that did work. The introduction of Nico O'Reilly and [Matheus] Nunes as pacey full-backs was to counter some of the counters essentially.

“The three in midfield that sat ahead of the two centre-backs as the full-backs got forward. Marmoush cutting inside to go alongside [Erling] Haaland. There was ideas there and I think he'll carry on and build on them.”

On Cherki, who scored 12 goals and registered 20 assists in 44 games for Lyon last season, McInerney said: “The quotes from Rayan Cherki as well have been really, really encouraging actually. He sounds like he's going to be Guardiola's dream actually...

“When you've got a mercurial talent, and he really is that special, he really wants it and he plays with such a freedom, in a free roaming role where you get the ball, you do the magic. I think Guardiola's going to love that.

“Guardiola loved watching David Silva on the ball. He loved watching [Lionel] Messi on the ball. He loved watching [Kevin] De Bruyne on the ball. Mavericks, brilliant players, players worthy of that stature.

Cherki, Reijnders, Ait-Nouri to be handed Man City debuts against Wydad AC?

“They get the ball and they're giving a free rein to be wonderful in the final third. There’s this lazy narrative that Guardiola will restrict creative players. No. Everyone who's ever spoken about Guardiola, who respects him, they all said the same thing.

“[Thierry] Henry has said it, I think [Riyad] Mahrez has said it. Guardiola gets you to the final third and after that, do your thing. That is going to be music to Cherki’s ears. Get him near the area and let him do his thing. Long story short, I think we’re going to see Cherki given that 10 role.

“I think he'll play off Haaland. I think Marmoush will play on the left and he'll cut in. I think Ait-Nouri (at left-back) will overlap and go wide. He'll provide the width. Marmoush will become a second striker as he goes alongside Haaland with Cherki behind them.

“I think Foden will get the right-wing spot. I think we'll see a little bit of Foden doing a very similar thing on the other side. Nunes maybe will start a right-back and then we'll probably see Rodri and Reijnders behind them, [Josko] Gvardiol and [Ruben] Dias at centre-back. It sounds so exciting to me. That's what I want to see personally. I think that's a ready-made lineup for Man City.

“There's a real obvious structure there, a set of players that fits into how Guardiola was playing last season. It's sort of ready-made for it. Maybe Guardiola won't start that way. He’ll play a couple of the older guys initially such as Bernardo [Silva]. Rodri might not start yet, but I think he'll be working towards something like that and, to me, that is a vast improvement on where Man City were last season.

“It takes the good ideas from the end of the season and adds real quality and legs and youthful energy and hunger to that side, and it could be something very special.”

McInerney has also given his thoughts on the newly-expanded Club World Cup tournament overall, sharing his hopes and expectations from a Man City perspective ahead of their opening group fixture.

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Written by
Oliver Thomas