The buzz around Lyon’s Rayan Cherki has been building for nearly half a decade, but this season, Cherki has finally erupted into one of Europe’s best wingers and is now set to leave his boyhood club after a tearful announcement.
The rumors of an exit started last season, with many Lyon and soccer fans alike interested in his career and frustrated at his development. The Lyon brass themselves had big problems with his attitude and work rate, and were ready to give up on their young winger who drew comparisons to Eden Hazard when he made his senior debut at just age 15.
Perhaps it was the pressure of being given up on that Cherki needed, because this season the Frenchman finally reached the heights many expected of him, and was presented the award for ‘Ligue 1’ best dribbler by Hazard himself.
He’s an entertainer at heart, his incredible close-control, agility, and mesmerizing skills have been catching the eyes of fans for years, but the biggest reason he has yet to become one of the world’s best is his fitness.
This was Cherki’s first season over 3,000 minutes across all competitions despite being a regular first team player for two years prior. Some may blame his work ethic, but it could just be that some professional soccer players don’t have the fitness levels of an athlete. The same happened with another former French-Algerian Lyon player Nabil Fekir. Some players manage to work around this difficulty, like Hazard himself, but it's no easy task. That’s why picking the right club to help him in his career is crucial to helping his body match his incredible skill set.
Staying in France this year was the best choice Cherki could have made. He amassed an unbelievable 32 goal contributions across all competitions, leading the Europa League in assists. He did this with only 34.3 ‘90’s’ played all season, meaning the Frenchman contributed to a goal nearly every game. But it’s his underlying dribbling and creative numbers that suggest that Cherki has truly become one of the best attackers in Europe.
Cherki ranked first amongst all the players in Europe’s top-five leagues for expected assists/90 at an incredible .52. In addition, Cherki ranks third in all of Europe for shot-creating actions/90 as well as in the top 10 for goal-creating actions/90, key passes, and passes into the penalty area. In the Europa League, Cherki is in the top three of all of these categories, as well as ranking high in dribbling statistics like progressive carries and carries into the penalty area.
These numbers are all out-of-this-world good, and paired with his must-watch skills, Cherki should be on the radar for a lot of top teams. But because of his shortcomings as an athlete, picking the next step in his career is incredibly important.
Marseille could be a great fit for Rayan Cherki
Staying in France helped turn Cherki from an amazing dribbler into a creative supernova, so why not stay in his home country? Led by Roberto De Zerbi, Marseille finished second in Ligue 1, still of course 19 points off champions PSG. Marseille also have many North-African players in their squad, the likes of Ismael Bennacer, Amine Gouri Bilal Nadir, and Amine Harit will help Cherki fit in the squad. But the biggest selling point about Marseille specifically is about the aforementioned De Zerbi. The Italian manager did incredible work with helping Kaoru Mitoma become one of the Premier League’s best wingers at Brighton. De Zerbi turned Mitoma from a raw touchline winger into an efficient and direct attacker, and while the creative numbers lacked for Mitoma, the efficient dribbling and goal-scoring caught the eyes of Premier League fans.
In Cherki’s breakout 2024-25 campaign, his dribbling numbers are no longer ones you’d have suspected when watching his incredible highlights in his younger playing days, showing he is ready to sacrifice becoming a high-volume dribbler in order to be a more complete attacker. And this quote from De Zerbi in 2023 on where he wants to help Mitoma improve is shockingly similar to describing what Cherki has become.
“I think his (area for) improvement is when he comes inside, when he receives the ball between the lines. He has to improve in body shape as the assist man and the last part of the pitch, to score more goals. He has the quality to score 20 goals” (The Athletic).
While Lyon and Marseille are somewhat rivals, there isn’t the bad blood of the PSG-Marseille or Lyon-Saint Etienne rivalries that would make the move untenable. It may hurt as a boyhood Lyon supporter, but staying close to home and working with a familiar squad and an exceptional manager is the type of familiarity that Cherki needs in order to continue his incredible growth from this season.
Borussia Dortmund already had interest in Rayan Cherki
This one nearly happened last summer, with Borussia Dortmund failing in a cut-price attempt to sign Cherki. But now with how the season has gone for Cherki and on the opposite side, Dortmund, they should not hesitate to make the move. Once again, the big fit here is the coach and his style of play. Manager Niko Kovac coached in Ligue 1 with Monaco, and helped another French-Algerian winger Sofiane Diop become one of the league’s best players that season. In addition, his relaxed training style and lack of a high-intensity press is perfect for Cherki’s fitness issues. The biggest selling point however is the amount of space attackers tend to have in the Bundesliga.
The reason that a big-move to the Premier League may not be ideal for Cherki is because of the high level of intensity that seemingly every player tends to point out when asked about the biggest challenge they’ve had to overcome. The high-line of the Bundesliga as well as the incredible pace of the likes of Karim Adeyemi, Jamie Gittens, Max Beier, Youssofa Moukoko, and the finishing of Serhou Guirassy means that Cherki will have the time and partnerships to help him continue to harness his incredible creativity.
Usually, soccer fans are hesitant to label a younger player as ‘one of the best in the world’. But now that the days of Messi and Ronaldo are truly over, and with the incredible rise of Lamine Yamal, fans are more willing to make such a bold claim. With that being said, let's put our cards on the table and come out and say that Rayan Cherki is now one of the best attackers in Europe. The maturity he has shown to become a truly incredible passer alongside his flashy skills make it impossible to deny this. That is why because of the rare talent partnered with his unfortunate fitness issues, it is paramount that Cherki finds the right home to become one of the best players of his generation.