“It’s a real option” – Pep Guardiola to conduct Manchester City experiment to mitigate Kevin De Bruyne loss | OneFootball

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has explained how Rayan Cherki and Phil Foden playing together can offer his side an outlet in attack that have so far missed this term.

Cherki made his first start since returning from injury in midweek as he scored and set up Omar Marmoush in a 3-1 win over Swansea City in the Carabao Cup fourth-round to set up a quarter-final tie against Brentford.

The 22-year-old joined Manchester City from Lyon for £34 million in the summer and was part of Hugo Viana’s strategy to mitigate the notable gap in midfield left following the departure of Kevin De Bruyne in June.

City saw off stiff competition to the signing of Cherki, who is widely rated as one of Europe’s best up-and-coming attacking midfielders and has already receive huge praise from Guardiola over his raw talent and technical ability.

The France international scored on his Premier League debut in Manchester City’s 4-0 win away at Wolves and was handed his first start in English football against Tottenham the week after – when Thomas Frank and co inflicted the first loss of the season on the Blues.

Cherki sustained an injury in the days leading to City’s defeat to Brighton at the end of August and made his long-awaited return to the pitch in a 2-0 win over Everton a few weeks ago. The former Lyon man also came off the bench against Aston Villa last week and put in a man-of-the-match display against Swansea City in midweek.

Guardiola will be delighted to see Manchester City’s hallmark summer signing perform in Wales as the Blues enter a tricky run of games against Bournemouth, Borussia Dortmund and Liverpool over the next week.

Speaking in a press conference on Friday afternoon, Guardiola was asked whether he is planning to play Cherki and Phil Foden together in midfield as Manchester City build on the form they have picked up in recent months.

“It’s a real option playing them together in some games – like Omar Marmoush and Erling Haaland. As much as they’re fit, we have a lot of alternatives. I wouldn’t say I don’t like these players, but I have to realise what happens in the Premier League in some games, against some opponents, and the physicality they have, without Rodri especially,” said Guardiola.

Foden and Cherki formed a strong camaraderie in training soon after the latter’s arrival to the Etihad Stadium – as arguably the two most gifted players in the Manchester City squad – and linked up well at the FIFA Club World Cup in the United States.

“Some players you have balance, like the first-half at Aston Villa we saw it perfectly – with a lot of talented players in certain positions, we’re not solid enough to sustain. But they will learn the efforts from Phil (Foden), the minutes he played in Swansea for Rayan (Cherki),” Guardiola added.

“Of course he has other attributes – I’m not going to ask the players to be something they have other qualities in. But there’s a minimum you have to do to be stable, otherwise any transition, any situation creates a problem.

“And always we were so good dominating; what happened in the second-half at Swansea we were there, we were there, we were there, and they didn’t run once, twice, nothing. This is what defines our team.

“And sometimes when you have a lot of these types of players, like we need to be creative and have options and this balance, we have to find eachother, find ourselves. And we will find it.”

Cherki and Foden are expected to start in midfield for Manchester City against Bournemouth on Sunday as the Blues look to return to winning ways after suffering a minor setback against Aston Villa last week.