Rayan Cherki: The Lyon Wonderkid Destined for Stardom

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Rayan Cherki has been playing senior level football for so long, it’s easy to forget he is still only 21 years old. Now in his sixth season as a member of Lyon’s first-team squad, Cherki may finally be moving on from the French club. Described as possibly the greatest talent ever produced by Lyon’s academy, the struggles of Les Gones have made Cherki’s early career tumultuous. Current Lyon coach Pierre Sage is Cherki’s sixth manager in his six senior seasons.

Talent

Cherki’s talent is something that has never been questioned. He may be the most naturally gifted player in world football currently. This sounds hyperbolic but he is already one of, if not the most, effective dribbler in Europe’s top five leagues.

The young Frenchman is both-footed and possesses outstanding technical ability. Able to operate in tight spaces and evade multiple defenders. Such is his threat on the ball that teams often find it impossible to contain him in one-on-one situations, needing to devote multiple defenders to marking Cherki.

PSG need three players to defend Cherki

This frees up space for teammates who Cherki can find with his exceptional range of passing. Able to pass the ball equally well with the inside and outside of both feet, he can find unexpected angles that catch out defenders. He has excellent awareness and vision, knowing where space is developing for other attackers, often space he has created himself.

Georges Mikautadze’s goal against PSG is an obvious example of this. Three PSG defenders, fearful of giving Cherki space on the ball, converge on him leaving Mikautadze in yards of space inside the box. Cherki is aware of this and shifts the ball quickly onto his left foot, creating the angle for the pass between the defenders.

This is a frequent feature of Cherki’s game. He is one of Europe’s most prolific ball carriers whilst also being in the top 3% of players for expected goals assisted. Per 90 minutes, he completes more passes into the penalty area, creates more shooting opportunities in open play and produces more expected goals assisted than any other attacking midfield player in Ligue 1.

Cherki is not exceptionally fast but can drive powerfully into open spaces when they appear. He typically uses shifts in direction and quick footwork to escape from defenders rather than blistering pace.

This lack of top-level speed is compensated for by physical strength that allows him to hold off defenders in tight spaces and bounce away from tackles. With his close control, he is difficult to stop in full flight. Even at pace, he dribbles with his head up, spotting passes to teammates in space. These traits make him one of those players that seems faster with the ball than without it.

One-man attack

Cherki is Lyon’s primary progressive carrier and passer, often starting moves in his own half before getting involved in the same move in the final third. He carries the ball further than 97% of his positional peers whilst nobody in Lyon’s squad plays more progressive passes. He does this whilst also leading the team in expected goals+expected goals assists.

Very few players can carry an entire team’s attacking structure and those that can are generally considered amongst the world’s best. These players seem like lofty comparisons for Cherki, but the statistical output puts him in these conversations. Especially considering Lyon aren’t a super team.

Statistically, Cherki’s current season at Lyon has similarities to Neymar’s incredible 17/18 season at Paris Saint-Germain, the key difference being Neymar’s increased shot and goal output.

So why aren’t big clubs interested? 

Given the qualities outlined above you would expect Europe’s top clubs to be knocking on Lyon’s door for their young talent. However, the player has been linked with transfers to midtable Premier League teams and, if rumours are to be believed, financially stretched Lyon are struggling to attract offers at an asking price of €30million. Not a huge fee in the context of the current transfer market. Fabrizio Romano has reported that Cherki can leave Lyon for as low as €22.5million.

Indeed, given his obvious ability why haven’t Lyon built the team around what should be their best player by some distance? The major issue with Cherki seems to be the tactical fit. For all his qualities in attack, he has a reputation of being a passenger in defence and a reluctant presser. Whilst this aspect of his game has improved in recent seasons, his most successful periods at Lyon have come under coaches flexible enough to adapt their tactical approaches to Cherki.

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Laurent Blanc understood how to get the best from Cherki, with the attacking playmaker producing his most productive period in the second half of his full season under the former France and PSG manager. Blanc played Cherki either as a number 10 behind the striker or nominally as a winger in a 4-3-3 but with the ability to float across the front line. Reminiscent of the kind of roles given to players like Neymar and Eden Hazard.

Blanc gave Cherki license to roam and cause chaos wherever he chose with minimal defensive responsibility. The then 19-year-old attacker thrived in this role with his most consistent run of performances of his young career. However, just four games into the following season, after a poor start amidst boardroom battles at Lyon, Blanc was sacked. What followed was another period of chaos as Fabio Grosso’s short 7-game reign leaving the side bottom of the table on just 4 points after 11 games.

Cherki was frozen out during this period and presented as a problematic player by Grosso. On Cherki, Grosso said: “Is he a special player? He’s a player; he’s not a special player. He’s a player like any other, albeit with some additional qualities.” Grosso likes his teams to defend in a 4-5-1 structure with aggressive pressing once teams cross the halfway line. Cherki was seen as a liability in this structure rather than an asset.

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Grosso’s successor Pierre Sage has also had difficulty with Cherki. In the recent loss to PSG Cherki was Lyon’s only real threat to the Parisien defence. After creating the goal to bring them back into the game he was mystifyingly replaced around the hour mark. PSG produced little threat for the rest of the game.

Justifying his decision, Sage said:  “He brought a lot offensively, but he was beginning to make efforts only in one direction and it became dangerous for the team.” The Les Gones coach said he was fearful Cherki would leave space open on the PSG right side so he sacrificed his main attacking weapon for tactical solidity. 

This is perhaps the issue with Cherki in the modern game. 15-20 years ago, his career trajectory would have been to run the attack of a European giant. Other players could pick up the defensive slack of such a talented attacker and difference maker. However, in the modern game with its strict pressing structures and managers expecting each role to follow precise instructions, space for a maverick like Cherki becomes limited.

That a succession of Lyon managers has watched their teams perform poorly whilst giving Cherki a peripheral role hints that those coaches would rather stick to rigid systems than adapt their tactics to get the most from the most talented player at their disposal.

This is despite consistently elite attacking output from Cherki whenever he has been on the pitch. The assumption amongst some quarters of Lyon’s fanbase is that the Frenchman’s attitude is to blame for his periods out of the team. However, from the outside it seems fair to question the tactical nous of managers who aren’t finding a way to incorporate a player with this level of production into a key role. Particularly as expecting a player to carry the attack whilst burning energy tracking back is unrealistic.

This obviously creates problems when looking for Cherki’s next destination. Then Borussia Dortmund manager Nuri Sahin allegedly blocked a transfer in the region of €15-20m for Cherki as he had no use for him in his system. He opted instead to persist with the likes of Donyell Malen and Karim Adeyemi, both willing runners but possessing not nearly the ceiling raising ability of Cherki. As a result of this kind of issue, it’s difficult to see him fitting into the rigid structures now demanded by many managers.

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Players in the modern era who have managed to shirk defensive responsibility on top teams, Lionel Messi, Neymar, Kylian Mbappé, have produced such astonishing attacking output that it would be difficult to justify not optimising the team for them. If Cherki is to succeed at the top level, he might need to put up close to one goal/assist per game as those players have. An incredibly difficult task.

Where next?

Cherki needs a manager with enough faith in him to construct a system that covers for his defensive deficiencies whilst allowing him to flourish as a playmaker. This has limited the range of clubs with interest in him significantly.

If he can add goal output to his game at a level of a Neymar then he simply has to be played regardless of managerial preference. The system will have to adapt to him. That kind of level would make Cherki one of the greatest players of all time. So it’s a big if. 

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Otherwise, his performance and game time is reliant on tactical fit. He will always be vulnerable to managerial changes, as he has already seen in his career to date.

It will be really fascinating to see what happens next. A player with the talent and output that in any other era would have made him a dominant force in world football will need to navigate this new era carefully to have a chance of even having an impactful career.

By: Luke Petty / @petty_luke

Featured Image: @GabFoligno / John Berry / Getty Images