Rayan Cherki is ‘cut from a similar cloth to Zinedine Zidane’: Why Man City need “new maverick” more than Florian Wirtz

Manchester City are in need of a “new maverick” and their latest signing Rayan Cherki “will suit City down to a tee”, Citizens expert Steven McInerney from Esteemed Kompany has told Sports Mole.

The 21-year-old has joined Pep Guardiola’s side from boyhood club Lyon for a reported £34m and has penned a five-year contract to keep him at the Etihad Stadium until June 2030.

Cherki, who recorded 12 goals and 20 assists in 44 games during a superb 2024-25 campaign for Lyon, has become Man City’s third summer signing after left-back Rayan Ait-Nouri and goalkeeper Marcus Bettinelli, and all three players are available to represent the Citizens at this summer’s FIFA Club World Cup.

While Man City are one of several top European clubs who are said to have seen huge potential in Cherki that could be harnessed by the right coach, his temperament and defensive work rate are considered by some as weaknesses to his game.

Nevertheless, director of football Hugo Viana has said that Cherki is “now in the best place possible to develop further”, while McInerney believes that the perceived risk in signing the highly-rated youngster is one worth taking for Man City.

Speaking to Sports Mole, McInerney said: “If the risk is there, it's not because of his experience. He made his debut in 2019, it was ridiculous. He’s been a regular for many years now. [Ligue 1 is] almost a perfect school for Premier League football. That's exactly what you want. Players who come over from the French league tend to do really well.

Cherki “taking his future very seriously” after opting to join Man City

“I think the perceived risk anyway is because of who he is, this preconception around him being a little bit difficult or maybe not the hardest worker. I think it’s slightly overplayed as everything usually is these days. A small negative is blown up into a full-on character assassination - that's social media for you.

“We’ve see a lot of people come out defend him, people close to him, [Alexandre] Lacazette, in particular, and former coaches. I've spoken to a few people who pay attention to him, too, and it's slightly played-up. I think the issue is that he's just a forward who isn't a natural presser.

“He tries to, but he's just not the fastest and as you'd expect from a mercurially gifted 10, he's better at the other stuff. If you're much better being on the ball, it’s probably going to contrast a little bit when you try and watch him off the ball. It doesn't mean he doesn't try for what I can tell.

“I would argue the fact that he's chosen Manchester City is sort of proof that he's taking his future very seriously. No-one signs for Guardiola expecting an easy ride. You'd have to be incredibly stupid and having watched Cherki speak a few times now, he doesn't strike me as an idiot.

“He seems a very smart man, very aware of his responsibilities, whether he'll act on them is another question entirely, but everyone knows what you get from Guardiola, so he's obviously up for the challenge.”

Cherki gave Man City supporters a promising glimpse of his talent when he scored and assisted on his international debut for France in an impressive cameo as a substitute in last week’s 5-4 defeat to Spain in the UEFA Nations League semi-finals.

McInerney has likened Cherki to French icon Zinedine Zidane and believes that Man City “need” the “hyper-realised caricature of a footballer” more than Liverpool-bound Florian Wirtz, who was heavily linked with Guardiola’s side earlier in the window.

Cherki likened to Zidane as Wirtz comparison is made

He said: “I would argue for the fee, £20m to £30m is barely anything. Given the quality that he's got, we saw that cameo for France on his debut - absurd, truly absurd. I felt like I was watching Zidane. I'm not even exaggerating there. People in French set-up have compared his abilities to Zidane as well.

“I'm not saying he'll go that far, but in terms of pure instinctive brilliance on the ball, mercurial stuff. Truly special footballer. For that fee, it's a [stupidly low] amount of money for someone so talented.

“Look at Florian Wirtz, the latest rumours are that Bayer Leverkusen want around £130m. Cherki is around a quarter of that, a fifth of that potentially. The worst that happens is Cherki becomes a really effective rotation player, and even if he doesn't like that he skunks off in a year or two and we sell him for £15m, £20m goes to something like Dortmund and still becomes a superstar anyway, but we get most of our money back.

“This is not the kind of signing where he walks off on a free transfer in five years. He'll go before then because he's too dramatic and too talented to not have a settled future at some point. But the upside is we could honestly have signed one of the most talented footballers in the world for an absurdly cheap price, who I actually think will suit City down to a tee.

“I actually think we’ve probably end up with the right signings potentially for both clubs. I think Wirtz is going to suit Liverpool, but I think City need Cherki. It's not necessarily just about his pure output, for me it's how he creates that output.

“You watch him on the pitch and he's a FIFA [player]. When you see a trailer for a FIFA game and they're doing flicks over the heads and they're doing rainbow flicks, or scoring volleys that no-one ever scores, that’s like the goal he scored on his debut for France.

Joyous Cherki “cut from a similar cloth” to Zidane, likened to Ronaldinho

“The passes that he plays are the ones that you see in a compilation for a laugh as sort of like hyper-realised. He's a hyper-realised caricature of a footballer and I mean that in a really good way. The reason I think that's good for City is because it’s become very sterile watching City over the past year or two.”

Now that legendary playmaker Kevin De Bruyne has left Man City, McInerney believes that Guardiola’s side are in need of a new creative spark more than ever.

He added: “Teams have got more and more defensive against us. Some of the ingenuity of peak Gundogan and Bernardo Silva and Mahrez is just not there anymore, Kevin De Bruyne has left, Rodri was available last season, he brings a lot of attacking brilliance. It’s become very prosaic watching City try and break down teams, because you haven’t quite got the ingenuity.

“I think what City do need is joy and I think Cherki is just joy in a footballer. There's a little bit of Ronaldinho in him to how he approaches his game. He's the kind of guy who'd score that goal like Ronaldinho did against Chelsea years ago with the outside of his boot.

“He will score a left-footed volley from 20 yards in his debut for France likes Zidane would, and I'm not saying he's going to reach his levels, but he's cut from a similar cloth in terms of just magic and pure football. A pure street footballer and I think City need that joy at the Etihad.

“I think he'll revel there because Guardiola is a lot more willing to give people who can do things on the ball than people gives him credit. This narrative that Guardiola will tell you not to do things it's nonsense. Get to the final third and express yourself, and Cherki is one of the most talented in the world at doing that.

Is Cherki the “magician” that Man City need?

“I think City right now need a magician. We need a new maverick. We need someone who's going to take the ball and try and dictate play and be a De Bruyne-esque character for us who wants the ball and wants to create chances at a high volume.

“I think he'll bring out the best of people like Phil Foden and Doku. People like that are street footballers, too. Foden loves a flick, he loves a one-two, so does Doku. I think if you have someone like that who's unashamedly brash with his skill, he brings out the best in the others and I think the Etihad would love it.

“I think this is actually what City need. I think they need a maverick and I think he'll suit City because unlike some teams where he's got to run an awful lot more - he's got to run a City don't get me wrong - but we're going to be camped on the edge of boxes against most sides. In that instance, that's where Cherki and his ingenuity comes into play.

“I think the amount of time he's going to get in the ball, he's going to be creating an absurd amount of chances every game because he's just going to be having 100 touches a game. When you give a player that talented that much time on the ball, good things will happen.

“Put him closer to Haaland when it comes to pressing. Don't worry too much, as long as he activates the press, but just mainly concentrating getting on the ball and if he does that, magic going to happen.”

McInerney has also discussed where exactly Cherki is most likely to play on a regular basis under Guardiola, having previously shown his versatility as a number 10 and as a winger who can operate on either flank.

 > Click this link to view and hear the full discussion.

Written by
Oliver Thomas