Kylian Mbappé on Manchester City’s Rayan Cherki: ‘He has a gift. He is an innate and spectacular talent.’ | OneFootball

Kylian Mbappé (26) was full of praise for teammate Rayan Cherki (22). The France captain says that the Manchester City forward “has a gift”. 

Cherki and Mbappé are both expected to start for France, against Ukraine on Thursday night as they look to book their place in next summer’s FIFA World Cup. The pair have previously faced each other when the former was at Olympique Lyonnais and the latter at Paris Saint-Germain. 

Cherki’s breakthrough into the national team set-up came back in the summer, and despite injury ruling him out of the October international break, he was recalled by Didier Deschamps for the current camp. 

The recall is the result of his excellent performances at club level. He has settled in quickly since making the summer move to Manchester City, building a strong relationship with Erling Haaland; he has four goals and four assists so far this season. Mbappé hopes he can replicate that form with Les Bleus. 

“He has quickly settled in the [France] squad, like at Manchester City, where he has created a special connection with his teammates and his No.9 (Haaland). He started with us well in June. He has the chance to come back and I hope that he will be as good [with us] as he has been at Manchester City,” said Mbappé. 

He added, “He is a special talent. For me, he has a gift that he is currently exploiting. He is an innate and spectacular talent.”

GFFN | Luke Entwistle