“Take and give pleasure” – Manchester City’s £34M star reacts to five-star display in Swansea City win | OneFootball

Manchester City playmaker Rayan Cherki was emitting happy vibes after the France international starred in his side’s 3-1 Carabao Cup fourth-round win over Swansea City in Wales on Wednesday evening.

The 22-year-old has endured a difficult start to life at the Etihad Stadium since he became Manchester City’s fourth signing of a notable transfer window in June, joining the Blues for £34 million from Lyon as part of the club’s attempts to mitigate the notable gap left in midfield by the departure of Kevin De Bruyne.

Cherki burst onto the international scene a few weeks on from completing his Manchester City transfer as he scored and assisted in a cameo off the bench on his senior France debut, with Les Blues losing out narrowly to Spain in the UEFA Nations League.

City fans were given a peak through the curtain into what they can expect from the Frenchman at the FIFA Club World Cup in the United States in June, when Cherki bagged his first goal for his new club and put in a string of impressive performances off the bench en route to City’s unfortunate Round of 16 elimination at the hands of Al-Hilal.

However, Cherki’s ascent was derailed by an injury he sustained in the days leading to Manchester City’s 2-1 defeat to Brighton and Hove Albion at the end of August, with the summer signing making his long-awaited return to action a few weeks ago against Everton.

After Manchester City’s nine-game unbeaten streak came to an end at the weekend, Guardiola threw Cherki into the lineup in the Carabao Cup fourth-round against Swansea City on Wednesday evening. The Frenchman starred as he set up Omar Marmoush in the second-half before wrapping up the 3-1 win in injury time.

“I feel very good because I don’t play after a long time and I’m very happy to be back to help my friends,” the 22-year-old said in an interview with Manchester City’s official channels after the victory in Wales.

“I’m very happy to be back because I want to play. I just want to play. In my life, I want to take pleasure and give pleasure, and when I’m out I’m not happy, and when I’m on the pitch, I’m happy, and for that I’m happy.”

Pep Guardiola is expected to retain Cherki in the starting XI this weekend against Bournemouth as Manchester City look to return to winning ways after falling short against Aston Villa last time out in the Premier League.

“It’s very important because the game (against Bournemouth) is at home, and at home we want to win all (the games) – and for that, we go for playing with the most intensity and take pleasure, give pleasure to the fans, and for that, we are ready to win,” Cherki added.

“We want to win all the games because we are a big club, and when you are a big club you want to win all the games, and for that when you lose one game – it’s possible – after we need to win all.”

Manchester City entered the interval against Swansea City with a one-goal deficit after Goncalo Franco’s brilliant effort from distance was perfectly placed in the top right corner and gave James Trafford no chance in net.

On Guardiola’s half-time message to his side, Cherki added: “He (Guardiola) said, ‘Just continue, just win a lot of second balls,’ because it’s very important to win these balls because we attack a lot.

“And we wanted to just win the game because we lost the last game, and for a big team like us, you want to win all the games.”

Cherki is expected to shoulder the architect-in-chief role for Guardiola and co and Manchester City fans will be delighted with the former Lyon man’s heroics ahead of a tricky run of games against Bournemouth, Borussia Dortmund and Liverpool.