Man City agree £33 million fee to sign French hotshot Rayan Cherki as Pep Guardiola closes in on landing youngster dubbed 'one of the greatest technicians in Europe'
Manchester City have reportedly agreed a deal to sign Rayan Cherki from French club Lyon.
The two clubs have agreed a fee worth €40 million (£33.7m) for the 21-year-old.
According to The Athletic, Cherki has agreed personal terms on a contract until 2030.
The French youngster is set to undergo a medical on Tuesday and could be available in time for Man City 's Club World Cup campaign.
Both an attacking midfielder and a winger, Cherki notched 12 goals and 20 assists this season for Lyon.
Able to play off both feet, he brings a level of adaptability which is believed to appeal to Pep Guardiola.
The 21-year-old Cherki winger has been described as 'one of the best technicians in Europe'
He scored in both legs when the French outfit was knocked out of the Europa League by Man United.
Born in Lyon, Cherki made his international debut last week during France's defeat to Spain.
He scored once and provided an assist on debut.
Days later, he added a second cap as France beat Germany in the Nations League third place play-off.
French football journalist Julien Laurens, speaking on the Euro Leagues podcast, described Cherki as "one of the greatest technicians in Europe.'
'He has been incredible this season. Since he was 16 - even before that - the talent is there, left foot or right foot.
'A player at this level who takes corners with each foot depending on which side of the corner it is, to be an inswinger every time is just incredible.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
31 minutes ago
- The Independent
Claudio Ranieri rejects Italy manager job after Luciano Spalletti announces own sacking
Claudio Ranieri revealed he has turned down the vacant Italy manager's job after Luciano Spalletti was dismissed from his post. The 73-year-old, who famously guided Leicester City to a fairytale Premier League title in 2016, will stay on with AS Roma as their senior advisor. Former Napoli coach Spalletti, 66, announced his own dismissal on Sunday following Italy's 3-0 drubbing by Norway in their opening World Cup qualifier on Friday. Ranieri, who recently retired for a second time after his spell at Roma last season, said he was honoured to have been offered the job by Italian Football Federation president Gabriele Gravina. "I thank President Gravina for the opportunity, a great honour, but I have reflected and decided to remain available to Roma in my new position totally," he told Italian news agency ANSA. "The Friedkins (Roma owners) gave me their full support and backing for whatever decision I had made regarding the national team but the decision is mine alone." Ranieri helped Roma finish fifth in Serie A last season to qualify for the Europa League. The Italian has been replaced by former Atalanta manager Gian Piero Gasperini at the Stadio Olimpico ahead of next season.
Daily Mail
37 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Chelsea suffer second 'Club World Cup tax' blow as Borussia Dortmund REJECT £42m bid for Jamie Gittens... with Blues set to revisit signing when transfer window re-opens
Chelsea will fail to complete the signing of Jamie Gittens from Borussia Dortmund before the first of two transfer windows this summer shuts on Tuesday night. The Blues were hoping to add the 20-year-old to their ranks for the Club World Cup and had been in negotiations with Dortmund, upping their initial proposal to €50million (£42m) in a last-ditch attempt to secure the deal. Gittens has reportedly told Dortmund bosses that he wants to move to Stamford Bridge, with Enzo Maresca 's side ready to hand him a seven-year contract. However, reports in Germany have now claimed that the deal is off after the German club refused to budge on their asking price for the winger. Manchester City hold a 10 per cent sell-on clause for Gittens who left the club's academy in 2020 for Dortmund. A special transfer window, which allows clubs to complete deals before the tournament kicks off on Saturday, shuts on Tuesday at 7 pm before reopening next week. Chelsea and Dortmund are expected to return to the negotiating table after the summer tournament. Maresca's men travel to the United States on Friday and face LAFC in their opening fixture in Atlanta on Monday. While Gittens, who also had brief spells at Chelsea and Reading as a youngster, could be in the Dortmund squad for the tournament, which begins with a clash against Brazilian side Fluminense. During his time in the Bundesliga, Gittens made racked up 106 appearances, scoring 17 goals. Although, his breakout campaign came this past season, over the course of which he scored 12 goals and provided three assists in 48 games. The breakdown of his move is the second transfer collapse in a matter of hours for the west London club, who saw a transfer for AC Milan goalkeeper Mike Maigan fall by the wayside on Tuesday evening. The Blues had stepped up their interest in the Frenchman in recent days and hoped to complete a deal before the special transfer window closes. But the west Londoners were unwilling to pay Milan's fee, which they believe was inflated due to their will to sign him in time for the Club World Cup. It is understood that Milan want around £20m for Maignan, who has one year remaining on his contract at San Siro. A deal between AC Milan and the Conference League winners is now off, according to Fabrizio Romano, who cited Chelsea's frustration at a 'Club World Cup tax'. Chelsea currently have five goalkeepers on their books but none have fully convinced fans. Robert Sanchez, Filip Jorgensen, Djordje Petrovic, Mike Penders and Kepa Arrizabalaga are all currently contracted at Stamford Bridge, but they have not persuaded the Chelsea hierarchy against looking for another keeper this window. However, following a breakdown in negotiations for Maignan, the Blues reportedly maintain 'full trust' in Petrovic, Sanchez, Jorgensen and Penders.
Times
42 minutes ago
- Times
Premier League TV viewers down after boring end to the season
TV viewer numbers for Premier League matches dropped last season after two previous record-breaking years, due in part to a lack of a close title race or relegation battle. Sky Sports viewing numbers were down 10 per cent last season to be broadly in line with the 2021-22 campaign. TNT Sports' Saturday 12.30pm kick-off showed a 5 per cent drop on the 2023-24 season, and a 17 per cent drop with the two full midweek rounds included. The numbers were presented to Premier League clubs at their annual meeting last week. Clubs were told Liverpool's romp to the title without a serious challenge from Arsenal or Manchester City meant viewer numbers dropped off particularly over the last six weeks of the season — until then they had been close to the 2023-24 season. The lack of a compelling relegation battle also affected interest towards the end of the campaign with Leicester City, Ipswich Town and Southampton effectively guaranteed to go down a couple of months before the end of the season. There may also have been more competition from other matches on TV with Sky streaming a record number of EFL games. Statistics sent out to the clubs in the 2023-24 season showed Sky Sports' average match viewership up by 4.1 per cent to 1.78million, with TNT Sports up 14 per cent to an average of 1.15million viewers. Next season will see even more live Premier League matches on TV when a new broadcast deal starts. Sky will show at least 215 top-flight matches live, up from 128, including all games moved to Sundays because of clubs' involvement in European competitions. TNT Sports will retain 52 games including the Saturday 12.30pm kick-offs and two midweek rounds. For the first time in six years, Amazon Prime will have no Premier League rights meaning there will be two rather than three subscriptions for viewers to pay. Insiders at broadcasters hope that fact plus the extra number of matches — every game not kicking off during the Saturday afternoon blackout will be available live — will cut the number of people using pirate streams to watch games. Anecdotal evidence shows that some fans are frustrated by being unable to watch their teams' matches via the broadcasters and seek out illegal streams instead. In February, Sky Sports' chief operating officer Nick Herm called on Amazon to crack down on illegal streaming by adding tougher controls to its fire sticks, estimating that these were indirectly to blame for approximately half of illegal streaming of Premier League matches in the UK. Research by the company Enders Analysis said Amazon, Google, Meta and Microsoft have been guilty of 'ambivalence and inertia' over the problem. Amazon has said it remains 'vigilant in our efforts to combat piracy'. The new Premier League TV deal is the first one to run over four years instead of three and is worth a total of £6.7billion, which includes £300million from the BBC for Match of the Day highlights.
