We’ve seen enough: Florian Wirtz is better than Rayan Cherki. That was a Manchester City debut to forget for the young Frenchman.
No matter how much Liverpool fans crow over their comparative five-year net spend, the successes of their previous record signings or validating the signing of Florian Wirtz on the basis of them not spending anything last summer or with the old ‘that’s just what the best cost’ argument that we’re fairly sure would have seen them baulking and shaking heads when Chelsea or Manchester City have broken the bank in the past, £116m is a helluva lot of money.
There will be huge pressure on everyone involved in his transfer: Wirtz to prove he’s worth the money; sporting director Richard Hughes who’s made the 22-year-old his first marquee signing having been embarrassed by Martin Zubimendi last summer; Arne Slot to ease him into a team without upsetting the title-winning dynamic.
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That pressure has been ramped up significantly by Manchester City signing a younger, arguably superior playmaker for a quarter of the price in Rayan Cherki. The stats don’t lie.
The social media posturing over who’s signed the better player or done the best deal is already incredibly tiresome. Wirtz’s goal for Germany against Portugal in the Nations League provided undeniable proof of his supremacy before Cherki’s goal and assist for France vs Spain the very next day led to City finger wags and cry-laughing emojis in response.
We should probably wait to reserve judgement on Cherki and Wirtz, we could even sit atop a pedestal and refuse to compare them at all in a highfalutin, happy-clappy bid to prove ourselves as the foremost champions of an old-world view where two footballers could be very good and possibly equally good at football without being forced to decide which one is better as if we’ve got a TikToker pointing a phone at us in Winner Stays On. But nah, Wirtz is better.
“Today’s game is less beautiful, fewer mistakes, but also fewer risks taken,” Cherki said after joining Manchester City, in quotes rather lost amid his claim that he wants to “kill” Manchester United. “I want to bring that spark back and give kids the joy it once had.” he added. Jack Grealish wants a word.
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But as we wondered whether the half-dozen training sessions Cherki has had under Guardiola would have been enough to stamp out the 21-year-old’s guile and individuality with a view to him becoming just another cog in the legendary manager’s increasingly robotic system, what we were actually watching was a bit of a shocker on debut.
In his 60 minutes before being hooked in favour of Oscar Bobb, Cherki had no shots, created no chances, lost possession more than any other City player (3), completed the fewest passes (27) of anyone but Jeremy Doku (20) and made no tackles or interceptions.
There was less “spark”, more slow decision-making and cumbersome control, with his display the most lethargic of a collectively sluggish Manchester City, though Phil Foden alongside Cherki looked more dynamic and closer to his old self than he has done for a while, grabbing his first goal in 20 games for club and country before assisting Jeremy Doku to put the game beyond a Wydad side who were made to look a whole lot better than their squad value of £18.1m to City’s £1.3bn would suggest.
Cherki looked exhausted and frustrated as he walked off in the 28 degree heat in Philadelphia, and while he isn’t burdened by his price tag as Wirtz will be, the comparison pressure works both ways – eyes will be as much on him as his most costly counterpart for the foreseeable future.
It’s 1-0 to Wirtz, or rather 1-0 to Liverpool fans over Manchester City fans in this absurd game of one-upmanship before either player takes the field in the Premier League.