Manchester City hit the ground running this summer transfer window. Lyon forward Rayan Cherki is in frame to become the third acquisition of the summer. According to multiple outlets, Cherki is set to have his Man City medical tomorrow, and sign the paperwork. A £33.7m (€40 million, $45.6 million) deal has already been agreed between the two clubs.
There is hope that the 21-year-old French international, who made his national team debut on Thursday in the UEFA Nations League loss to Spain, will join the team in time to feature in the upcoming FIFA Club World Cup.
Manchester City FIFA Club World Cup FYIs
How They Qualified: Winners of the 2022-23 UEFA Champions League
Manchester City Club World Cup Preview: go here
Group G Matches:
June 18, 12pm EST, Wydad AC, Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, PA
June 22, 9pm, EST, Al Anin, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, GA
June 26, 3pm, EST, Juventus, Camping World Stadium, Orlando, FL
Cherki will become the third addition for City this window, behind AC Milan midfielder Tijjani Reijnders (who came over on a transfer fee worth €55m) and Wolverhampton Wanderers left back Rayan Aït-Nouri (£31m base + £5m in add-ons = £36m deal for him) who successfully completed his medical over the weekend.
There could be an official announcement on the Rayan Aït-Nouri deal by the time you read this post today.
And this has to be some sort of quirky very unofficial summer transfer window record- signing two different players with the first name of Rayan, just days apart.
Rayan Cherki, who has been playing with the Lyon senior team since 2019, has scored 14 goals in 146 appearances for the Ligue 1 club.
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, the Washington Post and ESPN. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter