Rayan Cherki: ‘I’m waiting to kill Manchester United’ and ‘I can win the Ballon d’Or at City’ | OneFootball

Manchester City’s newest summer signing Rayan Cherki has sent a significant word of warning to rivals Manchester United following his arrival at the Etihad Stadium.

The Frenchman has arrived at Manchester City with the belief that he will become the natural successor to the recently-departed Kevin De Bruyne, who has formally joined Napoli on a free transfer.

Officials within the Etihad Stadium decided not to offer the 33-year-old extended terms on his expiring contract amid a common view that a rebuild of the first-team operation was required, thus allowing arguably the club’s greatest-ever player to leave.

While Florian Wirtz was originally viewed as the primary candidate to come in and take over the creative reigns from De Bruyne, Manchester City refocussed their attentions owing to the £300 million package that it would have cost to bring in the Germany international.

As such, Rayan Cherki very quickly emerged as the next priority and a deal with Lyon was concluded for a fraction of the aforementioned package cost, bringing in a player who shone when last appearing in Manchester.

Speaking to reporters from Manchester City’s FIFA Club World Cup training base in Boca Raton, attacking midfielder Rayan Cherki has warned that he is now ‘waiting to kill Manchester United’ after his experience at Old Trafford with Lyon last season.

“I didn’t like it when Manchester United won the game against Lyon because I am a Lyonnais. Now I am waiting for the game [to] kill them. I just [wanted] to go to Manchester City,” the 21-year-old admitted.

It was Cherki who thought he had completed the ultimate comeback at Old Trafford in the quarter-final of last season’s Europa League, only for Ruben Amorim’s side to score three goals in extra-time to win 5-4 on the night and 7-6 on aggregate.

The France international continued, “When I spoke with Pep [Guardiola] and he wanted me – he was very, very clear. That the system, the club, the city is very good. I want to win and I think City wants to win it all. For me that’s better.”

And in a final significant message of confidence, Cherki revealed, “When you see Rodri, he won the Ballon d’Or here – it’s clear that with City it’s possible and I am here for this.”

The current belief is that Pep Guardiola and Manchester City’s coaching staff could hand full debuts to their new outfield signings during the FIFA Club World Cup campaign, and potentially on matchday one against Wydad AC in Philadelphia.

Beyond the opening game against the Moroccan side, Manchester City will then take on opposition from the United Arab Emirates in Al Ain, before closing out their group stage with a meeting against Juventus.

As for Rayan Cherki, the young attacking midfielder will also find out the dates of his meetings with Manchester United in the Premier League on Wednesday morning as the top-flight unveils their preliminary order of fixtures for the 2025/26 season.