Rayan Cherki to Man City: Fabrizio Romano offers latest transfer, medical update as Club World Cup “mission” is revealed

Lyon attacker Rayan Cherki is expected to complete a transfer to Manchester City “early next week”, according to journalist Fabrizio Romano.

The Citizens have stepped up their pursuit of the highly-rated 21-year-old, who has been identified as a cheaper alternative to Liverpool-bound Florian Wirtz.

Cherki enjoyed an impressive 2024-25 campaign with Lyon, scoring 12 goals and providing 20 assists in 44 appearances, including four strikes and a tournament-high eight assists in 12 Europa League games to win the Young Player of the Season award.

The Frenchman, who has just a year remaining on his contract at Lyon, is expected to leave the cash-strapped Ligue 1 club this summer and has unsurprisingly caught the attention of several top European teams.

Man City have emerged as the clear frontrunners for Cherki’s signature, though, and Citizens supporters were given a promising glimpse of the attacker’s talent when he made his international debut for France in Thursday’s dramatic 5-4 loss to Spain in the UEFA Nations League semi-finals.

Man City in advanced talks to sign Cherki as transfer prediction is made

Cherki, who scored a stunning goal and assisted another during a 27-minute cameo appearance, dropped a major hint after the match to suggest that he is edging closer to completing a move to Man City.

Transfer expert Romano has since revealed that Cherki is “in a rush” to join Pep Guardiola’s side as he wants to represent the Premier League giants at the FIFA Club World Cup, which begins for City on June 18 with a group-stage fixture against Wydad AC.

Offering the latest update on Cherki’s situation in an interview with DAZN, Romano said: “It’s very advanced. I would say it is quite similar to the Florian Wirtz story with Liverpool. We are almost there.

“There are still some details to discuss between the two clubs. Agreement done with the player. I can tell you that Cherki has already spoken to Pep Guardiola. There was a direct conversation.

“Pep wanted to check on the boy and how excited he was about this opportunity to go to Man City - and he is, absolutely, very excited about this chance.

“The player is pushing to go as soon as possible. There is a negotiation ongoing. The beginning of the negotiation was something around €22m, €23m, this was the proposal from Man City. Lyon want more than this. They want at least €30m to €35m, so there is a conversation ongoing.

“My expectation is that over the weekend, this is going to get sorted and then the player early next week will do his medical and will travel with the Man City squad to the FIFA Club World Cup.

“That’s the mission for the boy, who also did fantastically well for the national team on his debut with a goal and an assist. City are in a rush and the player is too.”

Cherki to join Ait-Nouri, Reijnders at Man City

Cherki could soon become one of three new arrivals at Man City, along with Tijjani Reijnders and Rayan Ait-Nouri, before the first summer transfer window closes on June 10 ahead of the Club World Cup.

Both Ait-Nouri and Reijnders are expected to undergo medicals over the weekend after Man City agreed deals with Wolverhampton Wanderers and AC Milan respectively earlier this week.

The Citizens are set to pay a fee totalling to €40m (£33.7m) for left-back Ait-Nouri, while an initial €55m (£46.3m) deal has been agreed to sign Reijnders and it could rise to around €70m (£59m) with add-ons.

Speculation over the arrival of Cherki, in particular, comes at a time when Kevin De Bruyne is expected to finalise a move to Napoli when his contract at Man City expires later this month, while Jack Grealish and James McAtee are facing uncertain futures at the Etihad Stadium.

> Click here to see how Man City could line up with Cherki, Ait-Nouri and Reijnders in Guardiola's side.

Written by
Oliver Thomas