Rayan Cherki

Key strength: Vision and passing

Creative playmaker

In a Manchester City side sitting second in the Premier League and riding a three-match unbeaten surge, €50 million summer signing Rayan Cherki finds himself a frustrated spectator. The 22-year-old French winger arrived from Lyon with glittering credentials—9 goals and 11 assists in 42 appearances last season—but a cruel thigh injury has restricted him to just 90 minutes and a single assist in sky blue. It's a brutal introduction to life at the Etihad, where competition is merciless. To reclaim the right flank, Cherki must displace Phil Foden, an 85-rated England international in blistering form. Yet Guardiola saw something special in the Lyon academy graduate: a creative artisan whose 73-rated passing and visionary playstyle could unlock defenses when City's relentless machine meets resistance. Valued at €36.5 million and donning the prestigious number 10 shirt, Cherki represents a stylistic gamble—a technician who thrives on time and space in a system built for pace. As his return nears, the question intensifies: can a player schooled in Ligue 1's patient rhythms adapt to the Premier League's furious tempo, or will he become another expensive enigma on City's star-studded bench?