Manchester City were back to winning ways in the Premier League on Sunday, and it was hard not to get excited about the performance of Rayan Cherki as Bournemouth were swept aside.
Rayan Cherki’s start to life at Manchester City was frustrating.
He made just two appearances before a thigh injury ruled him out for about two months, robbing City of a potentially vital creative component and disrupting his attempts to settle into a new team and an unfamiliar league.
Considering his arrival somewhat split opinion, with plenty questioning whether such a ‘maverick’ was truly a good fit for a Pep Guardiola side, spending two months out represented a hugely disappointing blow for the France international.
But last week was important for Cherki. It felt like a belated arrival as he enjoyed a decisive impact in two matches: the EFL Cup win at Swansea City, and the Premier League defeat of Bournemouth.
The trip to Swansea provided Cherki with only his second start of the season in all competitions, and he produced the performance of someone who’d been itching to play. He was creator, goal threat and playmaker all rolled into one; the best player on the pitch, Cherki scored one, set up another, hit the post and just generally inspired most of what was good about City’s display in a 3-1 comeback win.
He had five shots and set up six chances for teammates; the last time a current City player recorded more than 10 shot involvements in a single game was in May 2024 against West Ham, when Phil Foden tallied six attempts and five chances created.
Rayan Cherki shots vs Swansea
Rayan Cherki chances created vs Swansea
Kevin De Bruyne – no longer at City, of course – was also no stranger to shouldering such influence. In fact, from the start of 2024 until he left the club in the summer, he recorded 11+ shot involvements in five different matches; Foden (twice) was the only other player to do it in that time.
While Tijjani Reijnders might seem a closer fit stylistically to De Bruyne than Cherki, the Frenchman probably has the greater capacity to replace the Belgian’s output numbers because his subtlety and ability in tight spaces make him so difficult to really shut down. Even if he’s quiet, he has the technical talent to create something out of nothing, just like De Bruyne.
And if he can get anywhere close to replicating De Bruyne’s influence, one man who’ll be incredibly happy is Erling Haaland.
Their on-pitch relationship was such a weapon for City. During their time together, De Bruyne set Haaland up for 55 chances in the Premier League, the second most from one player to a specific teammate over that time – and they’d probably have been top had De Bruyne not missed so much football during his final years at City.
Kevin De Bruyne chances created for Erling Haaland in the Premier League
Sunday’s win over Bournemouth, then, showed just how exciting the prospect of Haaland and Cherki linking up regularly could be.
Cherki’s two successful passes to Haaland each led to goals. As such, 83.3% (5/6) of Cherki’s passes to Haaland in the Premier League this season have yielded chances; among instances of players setting up 5+ chances for a specific teammate this season, only Jérémy Doku to Haaland (also 5/6, 83.3%) can match that efficiency. And it shouldn’t be forgotten that Cherki has played just 163 minutes in the league this term.
Rayan Cherki chances created for Erling Haaland in the Premier League
There was more to City’s victory than just those two combining to devastating effect, of course. Their bravery in the face of Bournemouth’s high press paid off handsomely, while Guardiola’s decision to pack the midfield rather than trying to play around the Cherries was ultimately key in Haaland exploiting space behind the visitors’ defence.
“They put a lot of players inside. Against us especially, they don’t leave the wingers open,” Bournemouth head coach Andoni Iraola highlighted after the game.
Man City Average Positions v Bournemouth
But Cherki grabbed the headlines. Well, strictly speaking he probably shared them given Haaland’s impact, though it’s notable at the very least that someone else stepped up.
“When you don’t leave them a lot of space, Foden and Cherki can play one-touch,” Iraola added, the effectiveness of that one-touch football only needing to be implied rather than spelled out.
Each of Cherki’s assists for Haaland were first-time passes. The first, a smart header just inside his own half that caught Marcos Senesi in no-man’s land, the second a delicate chip following an effortlessly smooth first-time layoff courtesy of Foden.
In the six minutes before that first assist in the 17th minute, there were two hints of what was to come, with Cherki playing early passes in behind for Haaland to run onto. Neither quite hit their mark, but the concern caused was unmistakable, with it quickly becoming apparent how much joy City could have if the final pass was slightly better. It didn’t even necessarily need to be perfect, as Bournemouth were so high that the space in behind provided City with a forgiving margin for error.
Erling Haaland goal vs Bournemouth
Bournemouth found Cherki difficult to stifle because he roamed so freely in the number 10 role and out towards the right. He recorded 69 touches of the ball in his 73 minutes on the pitch; the only City players who had more either played the full game or were taken off in stoppage time.
Guardiola pinpointed “the talent of the players we had between the lines” as being what “made the difference”, and Cherki certainly contributed here. His 11 passes received between the lines was only bettered by Foden and Haaland (12 each), both of whom played at least nine minutes more, and it reflected his ability to find pockets of space.
Furthermore, City’s 74 line-breaking passes in total was just two fewer than their most in a Premier League game this season. While that doesn’t necessarily equate to a good performance, it’s evidence of the bravery they played with against a team who are so intense, and Cherki’s class undoubtedly aided City’s attempts to pick them apart.
Man City Line-Breaking Passes v Bournemouth
The win might not have cooled talk of “overreliance” on Haaland because he scored twice again. But Cherki enjoying such a prominent couple of games feels significant considering Guardiola’s comments the week before about not being too concerned about a lack of goals being spread across the team. With the likes of Cherki and Omar Marmoush slowly building up their fitness, he knew it was only a matter of time until others became influential in attack.
Cherki’s past at Lyon certainly shows he has the mentality and quality to be central to a team’s attack, with his 32 goal involvements (12 goals, 20 assists) in all competitions last season giving an idea of the frequency at which he can affect games. After all, those 32 came in just 3,100 minutes on the pitch, so he averaged one every 97 minutes.
Rayan Cherki goal involvements all competitions 2024-25
“His vision in the final third is so good,” Guardiola said of Cherki on Sunday. “His consistency, his courage to play. In Swansea, he made an assist for Omar and then a goal. Today, two assists. He has this special talent and connection with the people up front that is unique.”
Well, what a frightening prospect that is then, considering Haaland was already in irresistible form.
Before the weekend, Haaland was already on course to obliterate the Premier League records for proportion of team goals scored by a single player (64.7%) and proportion of xG attributed to an individual (56.5%) in a season.
With comfortably the most significant non-penalty xG of any Premier League player this term (10.2 xG), Haaland is the kind of centre-forward who can maximise the output of creators, and the early signs suggest Cherki will give him plenty to feed off.
Erling Haaland xG
And yet, Cherki’s performance cannot be framed as perfect.
“With the dynamic that we play, he needs a little more time to adapt to the rhythm of the Premier League,” Guardiola added, with television cameras picking up a couple of moments when he appeared to show his frustration with Cherki.
One such moment occurred after Cherki had overplayed around the halfway line, trying to knock the ball around a defender instead of playing the easy pass to feed Nico O’Reilly, who’d made an off-ball run beyond him. Bournemouth quickly broke forward, their move ending with Eli Kroupi shooting into the side-netting from a position O’Reilly essentially vacated to make his burst upfield.
But even if it was Guardiola’s objective to change certain aspects of Cherki’s game, he is a maverick, and at times that can be a double-edged sword. City will have taken this into account when signing him, and more often than not, they will experience the upside of this while he matures.
Make no mistake, Cherki’s still a work in progress. But not even De Bruyne arrived at City as the finished article. What’s important is, in him, City have another player who can produce the extraordinary, someone capable of changing a game in an instant; when you’re so used to being in control, facing a low block or stubborn opposition, the unpredictability Cherki offers is yet another weapon.
For years it was De Bruyne who’d be looked to for that moment of inspiration, those tantalising balls for Haaland. Even if it’s still very early days, there’s a flicker of hope that Cherki could be the next – the maverick who becomes the maestro.
Premier League Stats Opta
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