From France: Manchester City execute Ligue 1 scouting mission after bargain Rayan Cherki capture | OneFootball

A scout representing the City Football Group was in attendance for RC Lens’ 2-1 win over AJ Auxerre at Stade de l’Abbé-Deschamps on Saturday.

Manchester City’s extensive scouting network has delivered huge success for the Blues in the transfer market since the club’s Abu Dhabi takeover in 2008, with a deeply-rooted grassroots network across the globe proving fruitful time and again for bosses at the Etihad Stadium.

City’s acquisition of Julian Alvarez from Argentinian outfit River Plate for £14 million in 2022 seems the best case in point, with the 25-year-old enjoying a two-year spell as successful as it could have turned out in England before bringing in a £82 million fee when he moved to Atletico Madrid last summer.

Alvarez is widely regarded as one of the most devastating and complete forwards in world football and the Argentinian was instrumental in Manchester City’s historic treble win in his debut season in England, scoring 36 times and providing 19 assists in 103 appearances in all competitions in two seasons for City.

Claudio Echeverri also trodded upon the Julian Alvarez path in January and made the move from River Plate to the Etihad Stadium. Having impressed Manchester City coaches in training since his arrival to England, Echeverri’s acquisition has further underscored the talent ID acumen of Manchester City’s global scouting network.

Savinho was brought in by City from CFG-owned ESTAC Troyes last summer, with the Brazilian being the only notable addition to Pep Guardiola’s squad in a dormant window off the back of Manchester City’s fourth consecutive league title triumph.

However, City went all guns blazing in the recent summer window and announced seven new additions to their first-team squad in the backdrop of their most challenging year on the pitch in a decade, as the Blues failed to a mount a challenge for the 2024-25 Premier League and UEFA Champions League titles.

Tijjani Reijnders, Rayan Cherki, Marcus Bettinelli, Rayan Ait-Nouri, Sverre Nypan, James Trafford and Gianluigi Donnarumma were all brought in over the course of a whirlwind transfer window following the appointment of Hugo Viana as Manchester City’s director of football.

As reported by French outlet La Voix des Sports and relayed by Sport Witness, a scout representing the City Football Group was in attendance for RC Lens’ 2-1 win over AJ Auxerre at Stade de l’Abbé-Deschamps on Saturday.

It has been reported that the Manchester City scout was tasked with observing the quartet of Lens’ Adrien Thomasson and Ismaëlo Ganiou and Auxerre duo Clément Akpa and Kevin Danois – all four of whom started the Ligue 1 clash.

Manchester City overhauled their first-team roster significantly in the recent window and club officials will be assessing the team’s performances in the coming months, with one eye on the January transfer window.

Guardiola typically prefers to new signings being made before a season starts – though events in recent years has belied this long-held stance – with the Blues splashing £181.5 million in January to compensate for a rather quiet summer of 2024.