As the 2024/2025 campaign draws ever closer to an end, all eyes will swiftly be turning towards the summer transfer window, and Cherki will be a name that will figure among most conversations over being available for a summer move. But what are the latest transfer rumours around him, his style of play and what people who have watched him up close have said about him? Find out below.
Rayan Cherki Latest Transfer News and Rumours
Many of the Premier League's biggest sides are keeping tabs
Rayan Cherki in action for Lyon
Given his performances over the season, it's no surprise that Cherki appears to figure prominently as a name some of the biggest sides in the Premier League are keeping an eye on ahead of a potential summer move. Manchester United are credited with showing a strong interest in signing Cherki, while there have also been suggestions Arsenal and Newcastle could also battle it out for his services.
As if that wasn't enough, Cherki is also reportedly attracting admiring glances from Aston Villa too as Unai Emery looks to further build on the exciting side he has built over at Villa Park. What is clear though, is that Lyon's play-maker will have his pick of the clubs when it comes to potentially leaving his boyhood club.
Rayan Cherki Style of Play and 2024/2025 Season Stats
This has been his best campaign to date
Rayan Cherki
While Cherki has been around for a while in Lyon's first-team since making his breakthrough, the 21-year-old has by far enjoyed his best season of his career already thus far. As of the beginning of April 2025, the Frenchman has already registered 18 assists in just 35 games, including eight of those coming in the Europa League alone.
Cherki has been absolutely crucial to Lyon's run to the quarter-finals, where perhaps coincidentally will take on one of the teams who have been rumoured to be interested in him, Manchester United. The versatile star has also shown his propensity to rise to the occasion, registering a goal and an assist against PSG, as well as making telling contributions against Eintracht Frankfurt and Rangers.
Rayan Cherki's Lyon Stats (2024/25 Ligue 1)
Games
23
Goals
6
Assists
9
Goal-creating actions
16
Minutes played
1,494
Indeed, his performance against England's U21s in the March international break this year made for incredible viewing, with the Frenchman toying with the Three Lions all night in a superb display that would have left on-looking scouts deeply impressed. He scored once and set up another two, and was generally a level above everyone else on the pitch.
One of the most two-footed players in the world right now, Cherki's balance, agility and vision all mark him out as one of the best creators in European football. Capable of playing out wide on the right - where he has been most predominantly used this season - or in the number ten role, Cherki really thrives when given the licence to drift inside and link up with his number nine and central midfielders.
Eurosport France's Martin Mosnier waxed lyrical about his potential and delivered a breakdown of what he brings to the table, and what interested clubs would be getting by signing him.
He’s really an attacking midfielder although he can also play as a winger. Cherki is an exceptional dribbler, one of the first things one notices when watching him is that he appears to be ambipedal, as he can seemingly utilise both feet equally well. His strengths are as follows: key passes, dribbling and his ability to create something out of nothing.
What Have People Said About Rayan Cherki
He's been compared to Argentina legend Lionel Messi
If you wanted a measure of the kind of talent that Cherki has, then you only have to look at what those who have seen him up close have said about him. President of Lyon, Jean-Michel Aulas, - who has never been shy to voice his opinion - went so far as to say that Cherki is "comparable to Lionel Messi in terms of technical quality".
Following a superb performance for Lyon against Nantes aged just 16 - he scored twice and assisted another two - now Real Madrid superstar Kylian Mbappe took to social media to declare "don't speak too much about age". Meanwhille, former Nantes manager Christian Gourcuff simply said that Cherki has a "big future" and that he is a "very, very good footballer".
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