Pep Guardiola drops major hint about Rayan Cherki after tough debut
Pep Guardiola has hinted that the decision to bring Rayan Cherki to Manchester City was one made by the club, rather than him. The France international joined the Premier League side in a £34million deal ahead of the deadline to play in the Club World Cup.
But Guardiola has claimed he was happy to see Cherki's arrival from Lyon after the 21-year-old made his debut for City on Wednesday. The attacking star started the game as they got their Club World Cup campaign off to a winning start against Wydad.
Phil Foden and Jeremy Doku both got on the scoresheet to secure three points for Guardiola's side in Group G. Though, the ex-Bayern Munich and Barcelona boss was left annoyed that Rico Lewis earned a late red card.
Cherki failed to impose himself on the game during his hour on the pitch however. The Frenchman lost the ball 10 times - more than any of his team-mates.
Guardiola nevertheless praised the attributes that Cherki can offer his side in the wake of Kevin De Bruyne's exit. Despite the City coach accepting that fully replacing the talismanic Belgian will be extremely difficult.
"Of course Kevin is difficult to replace we know that," he said. "For the quality he has, there is no doubt about it, but at same time the club decided on Rayan because he has incredible skills close to the box and great vision, pass in many things.
"It was just a first game with tough, tough conditions. I'm really pleased he came here."
In an interview with DAZN, Guardiola added: "Tijjani [Reijnders] played very well, Rayan [Cherki] had good moments. Everyone has to get to know us and see what happens."
While Cherki struggled to find his feet, Foden hit the ground running with a goal and an assist. The England international is hoping to bounce back from a tough 2024/25.
Foden said: 'It was a difficult season, I'm not going to lie. It was not the best. I got a little bit of time off, rested. Yeah, new start, new me.
'The hunger inside me is back and I want to prove people wrong. We want to try and put last year behind us and get back to how we used to. So, the determination is definitely there.'
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