Rayan Cherki: Man City fans licking their lips after Pep Guardiola makes bold claim about £34m “street player”

Pep Guardiola is excited to integrate summer signing Rayan Cherki into his Manchester City team following a lengthy spell on the sidelines.

Cherki - a £34m arrival from Lyon in June - made an instant impact to his Citizens career when he scored on his debut Premier League debut as a substitute in a 4-0 win at Wolverhampton Wanderers on the opening weekend of the new season.

The French playmaker was then rewarded with his first Premier League start in a defeat to Tottenham Hotspur, before sustaining a thigh injury that ruled him out for seven matches across all competitions.

However, Cherki made a welcome comeback for Man City as a substitute in last weekend’s 2-0 Premier League victory over Everton and his impact was instantaneous as the 21-year-old almost set up goal-machine Erling Haaland for what would have been his hat-trick.

Cherki is in contention to feature in some capacity for Man City in Tuesday’s Champions League clash with Villarreal in Spain, and Guardiola has heaped praise on the highly-rated attacker, who has been described as a “street player” by the Catalan coach.

“Rayan is one of the most talented players I have ever seen in my career,” Guardiola boldly declared at his pre-match press conference on Monday evening.

“His talent…he is top. The question is how he settles and how he needs to read actions.

Cherki “has something” and “doesn’t feel pressure”, says Guardiola

“He started well at the Club World Cup but then had a few weeks off. I have the feeling most of the time when the ball comes to him, the situation is better.

“But not all the time you have to do exceptional things - just play football. He has something.

“The pass for Erling in the last moments [against Everton], he can do it. He is a player who doesn’t feel pressure. He is like a street player.

“He wants the ball when he doesn’t have it, but he is here a short time - he needs a little bit of time because in football you learn to play with your mates.

“But these types of players are intelligent. They see everything.”

Cherki, who has travelled to Villarreal as part of a 22-man Man City squad, has also been described as a “mercurial talent” by Esteemed Kompany’s Steven McInerney who believes the playmaker could soon have a “big part” to play in Guardiola’s team.

If last season is anything to go by, Man City fans should be excited by what Cherki has to offer, after he contributed with 12 goals and 20 assists in 44 games for Lyon during a superb 2024-25 campaign.

Man City director of football Hugo Viana said on Cherki’s arrival that the playmaker is “now in the best place possible to develop further” and Citizens supporters are intrigued to see how he could link up with fellow attacking star Phil Foden in the near future.