Manchester City newcomer Rayan Cherki was involved from the start as Pep Guardiola’s side ran out 2-0 winners over Wydad AC in the Club World Cup.
Rayan Cherki signed for Manchester City just before the competition, arriving from Lyon to much fanfare in the wake of his impressive development at Lyon.
“We’re very happy to have Rayan at City,” Hugo Viana recently said of Cherki. “We want to bring top talent to the club, and he falls into that category.
“He’s a player our scouts have watched for a long time, and we have all been impressed with his skill and creativity. I am convinced our fans will be excited to see him play.”
Cherki played for 60 minutes against Wydad before coming off, and a number of media outlets had their say on the Man City newcomer in their post-match ratings pieces.
Manchester City new signing Rayan Cherki in action against Wydad Casablanca
Photo by FRANCK FIFE/AFP via Getty Images
Mixed reaction over Rayan Cherki display with one outlet deeming him ‘unremarkable’
Cherki wasn’t exactly poor, but he didn’t pull up many trees as he was outshone by the likes of Phil Foden and fellow debutant Tijjani Reijnders.
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Goal.com provided a comprehensive write-up about Cherki as they awarded him a rating of just 5 out of 10.
“An unremarkable debut on the whole and a bit disappointing after talking such a good game pre-match,” they wrote.
“Showed some trickery and the workings of an understanding with Savinho and created a good chance for Foden which went to waste.
“A loose pass led to Moufid trying his luck from long range. Taken off in the 60th minute.”
The Manchester Evening News, meanwhile, gave Cherki a 6 out of 10 for his efforts on the day.
“Took a while to get going but showed signs of building relationships with his new teammates and linked well with Doku,” they wrote.
Finally, OneFootball went with a 6.5 out of 10 and wrote: “The debutant showed flashes of creativity and linked well in midfield but faded as the game wore on.”
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Statistic Number
Touches 35
Accurate passes 20/27 (74%)
Key passes 1
Crosses (accurate) 0 (0)
Long balls (accurate) 0 (0)
Shots on target 0
Shots off target 0
Shots blocked 0
Dribble attempts (successful) 2 (1)
Ground duels (won) 3 (2)
Aerial duels (won) 1 (0)
Possession lost 10
Fouls 0
Was fouled 1
Clearances 1
Rayan Cherki stats vs. Wydad AC (Sofascore)
Why Manchester City fans need not be worried about Rayan Cherki debut
While social media is ablaze with people criticising Cherki for his debut, it’s important not to place too much emphasis on such a performance.
First of all, Guardiola didn’t exactly use Cherki in the right position. He was played as a false nine, when really he should have played as an inverted winger as he normally does.
And it’s not like Cherki was terrible. While some players can hit the ground running from the off, some need a little more time to get acclimatised to things.
Abdukodir Khusanov really struggled on his debut, and that was in a Premier League game so the stakes were much higher. He came good eventually, and so will Cherki.