Have Manchester City triggered Rayan Cherki’s unofficial release clause?  | OneFootball

Manchester City have submitted a bid worth €22.5m for Rayan Cherki (21), according to L’Équipe. That fee is the same as the unofficial release clause in the France international’s contract. However, there is a dispute as to whether this clause is still valid.

In order to re-integrate the first-team set-up at the start of last season, Cherki had to sign a new deal with Olympique Lyonnais. That ensured that Lyon would not lose him on a free transfer this summer. Whilst release clauses are illegal in France, there was an agreement that Cherki would be allowed to leave his formative club for €22.5m.

In the event that such a bid was not accepted by OL, the club would have to pay the player €3m. This could be paid over a maximum of four instalments. In January, Borussia Dortmund offered such a sum. The bid, however, was rejected by Lyon. The club claim that the clause could only be activated once and also believe that the clause has already been activated by the Bundesliga side.

Cherki says future ‘taking shape’

However, Lyon have not paid Cherki the €3m due, claiming that Borussia Dortmund’s offer did not meet all of the criteria to activate the unofficial clause. As a result, this clause, which takes more the form of a promise, could remain valid, which is why Manchester City submitted the offer they did. The clause remains contested and so Lyon don’t intend to accept the Premier League side’s current bid.

Manchester City, however, are very much leading the race to sign Cherki. On Thursday night, the playmaker told Téléfoot that his future is “taking shape” without further specifying.

GFFN | Luke Entwistle