What Rayan Cherki’s Man City debut tells us about his future | OneFootball

At the home of the Philadelphia Eagles, there was an NFL-edge to Rayan Cherki’s first Manchester City appearance.

In the one-by-one player introductions, in the style of American football, Pep Guardiola’s new man entered centre stage for City.

He brings promise of a return to the sort of form that won the blue side of Manchester four consecutive Premier Leagues, after a season in which the club faltered and were miles off the title-winning pace set by Arne Slot’s impressive Liverpool.

At a half-empty Lincoln Financial Field, with a boisterous presence from Morocco’s Wydad Casablanca fans (at one point stopping the game with a waft of red smoke flares), Cherki made a good first impression but only in bursts.

Phil Foden and Jeremy Doku netted the goals, but 21-year-old Cherki showed glimpses of why City poached him from Lyon. Admittedly he did not set the game on fire, but with a few clever touches and eye-catching runs that were not found he showed promise in a 60-minute debut.

With new signings Rayan Aït-Nouri from Wolverhampton Wanderers and midfielder Tijjani Reijnders from AC Milan, who looked composed in the centre of midfield on his debut, Cherki has bolstered a City line-up that is now without the talents of Kevin De Bruyne.

Facing an aggressive Wydad side, Cherki dipped further back into midfield for the ball, roaming free around the centre of the pitch. He pushed ahead at the start of the second 45, leading the line alongside Omar Mamoush.

Rayan Cherki was congratulated by City boss Pep Guardiola when he left the pitch (AFP via Getty Images)

In just an hour of action, Cherki’s potential impact at City is hard to judge fully, but from what the Frenchman did show he has the promise that Guardiola must have seen in him to bring him to the Premier League.

A fluid City side made Cherki float, moving in an interesting way around midfield and running into the channels at times. He showed a burst of pace to get in behind, but he remained unfound by any of the other creative forces in the team. Reijnders’ talents were hidden in his deeper role, with Cherki instead handed the spotlight.

Cherki showed flashes of his quality against Wydad (AFP via Getty Images)

Hesitant start

Aside from a few flicks and tricks early on, Cherki took his time to get into the game in earnest. He grew as the first half went on but was hooked off just after the hour mark in a sign that perhaps he had not influenced the game as much as Guardiola would have liked.

Overall, he had little impact on the game but the important thing was that he showed signs of his talents – it is a strange environment to be asked to play your best stuff with a blistering midday heat covering a half-filled 68,000-seater stadium. Last term he netted 12 times with 20 assists across all competitions.

Cherki will hope to have a greater impact on City’s remaining games in the US (Getty Images)

In what Guardiola described as “very tough conditions”, Cherki’s performance did not jump out. Floating around, at times without any tangible direction, he meandered through some of the opening 45 minutes. But when he had the ball, he demonstrated a sharp touch, and out of possession he showed a clear knack at getting into some very good positions when the likes of Foden, Marmoush, and Savinho were poised to play the killer pass.

It is not a debut that will make any headlines, but Cherki showed he has the potential to become an important player for Manchester City.