Rayan Cherki will become a Manchester City player this week.
This summer has been a busy one for the Manchester club so far, as Pep Guardiola is keen to add four to five new players to his squad ahead of the new season after the Spanish coach’s side experienced a tough 2024/25 campaign.
One of the biggest tasks Hugo Viana had this summer was replacing Kevin De Bruyne, and it became clear at the end of the season who was Man City’s top target, as Guardiola was very keen to bring Bayer Leverkusen’s Florian Wirtz to the Etihad Stadium.
With the German now set to join Liverpool, the Manchester club’s focus turned towards Cherki, and transfer expert Fabrizio Romano has now shared the real reason why the French star is ‘buzzing’ to be completing the move this week.
Photo by Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images
Photo by Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images
Negotiations between Man City and Lyon were tense
Man City saw their first offer for Cherki rejected by Lyon late last week, and according to Romano, that played a part in the negotiations getting tense on Saturday as the two clubs continued to try and find an agreement over a transfer fee for the 21-year-old.
“Man City were in contact in the morning with Olympique Lyon to fix this deal, to send the final proposal, and it was accepted,” Romano said about the Cherki deal on his YouTube channel.
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“So Olympique Lyon will receive £36m guaranteed fee, plus €5m in add-ons, quite easy to reach, plus a 15% sell-on clause. It will be a five-year contract for Rayan Cherki, who has already arrived in Manchester.
“I can tell you that the player wanted to travel on Sunday already, he was buzzing to join Manchester City, in contact with Pep Guardiola. He didn’t want to wait anymore, because at some point, there were some tense moments on Saturday for this negotiation, club to club.
“And so Cherki was pushing like crazy to go to Manchester City. And now the deal is completed. The player will have his medical and sign his contract tomorrow (Tuesday).”
Man City would have also wanted the deal to get done as the Manchester club were keen to have the midfielder as part of their squad for the FIFA Club World Cup, while Cherki impressed with France last week, which would have caught the attention of other clubs.
What’s next for Man City in the transfer market
Now that Man City have got their deal for Cherki over the line, in addition to Rayan Ait-Nouri and Tijjani Reijnders completing their moves to the Etihad Stadium, the Premier League giants will now look to add a right-back to their squad.
Romano said last week that he expects Man City to move for a right-back after the FIFA Club World Cup, as Guardiola needs to replace Kyle Walker in his squad, who has held the position for the last eight years.
Viana has hit a wall in his search for a new right-back for Man City as Newcastle don’t plan to sell Tino Livramento this summer, while a move is yet to be made for Juventus’ Andrea Cambiaso.
It remains to be seen who Man City make an official move for ahead of the 2025/26 campaign, but what is certain is that Guardiola will try to address the position, as both full-back roles are key to how he wants his team to play.