From France: Manchester City made cheeky low bid for Lyon’s Rayan Cherki | OneFootball

Manchester City officials lodged a somewhat cheeky low offer for primary attacking midfielder target Rayan Cherki, according to new reports from France.

The 21-year-old is firmly the main choice of Etihad Stadium officials when it comes to bringing in a new attacking midfield talent to take on responsibility in light of Kevin De Bruyne’s pending exit from the club.

The Belgian leaves behind an enormous legacy in sky blue and has been handed the freedom to join a new club on a free transfer this summer after City bosses opted not to hand him an extension to his contractual terms.

De Bruyne is expected to sign a deal with Serie A Champions Napoli in the coming days and remain at the very top of European football, whilst also enjoying UEFA Champions League football from next season after the Naples side’s heroics in the Italian top-flight.

And despite initially facing difficulties in signing Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen, withdrawing interest due to financial concerns, it seems as though Manchester City have their eyes set on one man but continue to try to secure the best deal possible.

According to the information of L’Equipe’s Loic Tanzi and Hugo Guillemet, Manchester City made a €22.5 million, likely verbal, offer for Rayan Cherki equating to a ‘clause’ established last summer between the player and the French club.

That clause is now being contested by Lyon, and is no longer active after Borussia Dortmund made a similar attempt to trigger it earlier this year, while its valuation is certainly not a fee they have any intention of accepting from the Premier League club.

Despite those efforts not proving successful, there remains a willingness from the side of all parties to conclude an agreement that would see Cherki become a Manchester City player in time for the FIFA Club World Cup this summer.

The Lyon playmaker is expected to follow two other new faces through the doors of the Etihad Stadium as Tijjani Reijnders of AC Milan and Wolves’ Rayan Ait-Nouri undergo medicals over the course of the weekend following agreements met between all clubs involved.

Rayan Cherki spoke openly of the work being done behind-the-scenes to bring him to the Etihad Stadium on Thursday night, as he told television broadcasters following his goal and assist against Spain in a 5-4 UEFA Nations League defeat, “Yes, it’s getting done.

“But you already know my answer, everybody knows,” he added. “But there’s still a game to play. Now we have to enjoy and give everything, but after it will be done.”