Manchester City manager Enzo Maresca has paid tribute to Rayan Cherki as the playmaker enjoys a sensational run of form in sky blue.
Rayan Cherki has been in sublime form for Man City of late.
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Cherki has made a stupendous start to life under Maresca, vying to build on an eye-catching debut campaign at the Etihad Stadium under Pep Guardiola.
City have won seven on the spin to start the 2026-27 Premier League season and returned to winning ways in the UEFA Champions League in midweek against AEK Athens - a week on from suffering their first loss of the campaign against back-to-back European champions Paris Saint-Germain.
Despite a comprehensive remake of Manchester City's midfield in the summer, Cherki remains one of the first names on Maresca's teamsheet, having made the number 10 position his own by virtue of totalling six goals and two assists in 11 outings across all competitions for the Blues this season.
Maresca: We're lucky that Rayan is with Man City
As City return to Premier League duties against Aston Villa on Saturday, Maresca finally gave Cherki his flowers and waxed lyrical about the France international after a world-class goal in the midweek 5-1 win over AEK Athens.
Speaking in a press conference at the City Football Academy on Thursday morning, the Manchester City boss said: "Rayan, at this moment, is one of the best players in Europe! When he's in the right position, that means when we're able to find him between the lines, it's always dangerous.
"And when he's inside the box with the quality he has, he's one of the best players in Europe! Sometimes because he loves the ball and loves to move a lot, most of the time he's out of position.
"But when he's in the right position, he's always a weapon for us. We are lucky that Rayan is with us - and hopefully he can score more goals and more assists for us!"
Rayan loves the ball and wants the ball, says Maresca in acceptance of Cherki trickery on the pitch
A maverick at times who doesn't always abide by the rulebook, Cherki can be frequently found pleasuring the fans with a trick here and there when donning the Manchester City shirt.
The 23-year-old was at his usual entertaining self against the Greek champions on Tuesday night and Maresca was quizzed on Cherki trying to harmlessly embarrass the opposition - something that can routinely not sit right with managers in professional football.
"I like players when they're happy, for sure, 100 percent," Maresca added. "But I also like simple things. At the end, I think the most difficult thing in football is to do the easy things, don't complicate.
"But sometimes you have players that are so, so good like Rayan, that they need to do that. So I'm very happy when he's doing that, also because I know that he's happy. And if you're able to do that and to allow the team to create chances, it's top, it's even better!
"This is something Rayan needs to keep: He loves the ball, wants the ball. This is something I'm not going to remove from his skills, absolutely.
"But we need to find the right balance when we're able to contact with him in the right position, we create chances! When he's in the right position inside the box, he's creating chances for himself or scoring."
Assessing Cherki's start to the season for Man City
Cherki has made himself as close to indispensable for Manchester City as possible in the opening months of the season, coming off the bench to change the game for the Blues on the opening day of the season against Bournemouth by supplying a pair of assists to Marc Guehi and Josko Gvardiol; the latter scoring in stoppage time.
As Phil Foden rediscovers his best self after scoring four times in as many days earlier this week, Maresca has the luxury of leaning on someone whom he rates as one of the best in his position in Europe in Cherki, who keeps earning plaudits week on week with his imperious attacking displays.
The playmaker has also added astute defending to his game and is visibly tracking back much more than he did in his first season at the Etihad Stadium, adding key elements to his game that will make him almost impossible to look past in the starting XI for Maresca as the season progresses.