Manchester City could look to replace outgoing legend Kevin de Bruyne with a move for Lyon star Rayan Cherki in the coming weeks, according to Fabrizio Romano - with City asking to be informed on the details of a potential deal for the silky playmaker.
De Bruyne announced in early April that he would be leaving City at the end of the season, featuring in his final game for the club in a 2-0 win over Fulham on Sunday afternoon - and now the club appear to have added Cherki to their shortlist ahead of a potential replacement for the Napoli-bound Belgian.
A post by Romano on X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday morning stated that City are interested in Cherki, and wish to be informed on the details of how much it would cost to see him depart Lyon.
The Italian journalist has further stated that he's on Pep Guardiola's shortlist with Nottingham Forest star Morgan Gibbs-White, who is 'highly-rated' at the Etihad Stadium - and with De Bruyne leaving, the Frenchman could be on his way to Manchester, having been dubbed as 'one of the most skilful players on earth'.
A further report by The Telegraph earlier that morning stated that City had joined the race for the talented Frenchman, who has confirmed that he will leave Lyon this summer - and Premier League clubs believe that he has a release clause in his contract for around £20-25million.
City's move for Bayer Leverkusen star Florian Wirtz has broken down due to the cost of a potential deal, and the German is expected to join top-flight rivals Liverpool, which has opened the door for a much cheaper move for Cherki, who has enjoyed his breakthrough campaign for the Ligue 1 club this time around - leading to him being called a 'future Ballon d'Or winner'.
Cherki has registered 32 goal contributions in just 44 games for Lyon in all competitions this season, including 12 in as many games in the Europa League - and the 21-year-old, who has already made 185 appearances for his hometown club, could be ready to step up to the Premier League to have a shot at the most competitive league in the world.