The first serve from behind the goal is fizzed in at his chest.
Rayan Cherki cushions the ball but it bounces higher than his waist, making the prospect of him scoring both from inside the ‘D’ and within the two-touch rule seem implausible. Yet without a single footwork adjustment, Cherki trots up and nonchalantly whips a half-volley into the top corner.
The whoops of astonishment from his team-mates queuing for their turn at the challenge light up Cherki’s face as he gestures for the next delivery to be sent in.
He continues to scrape the plate clean.
One with the inside of his right foot goes in off the post. Then comes a back-heel first touch on the spin, followed by that familiar whipping action, this time on his left side. He pings another into the far corner with the laces of his right boot before juggling the final ball and cutting across it with the outside of his left foot before it touches the ground.
The audience, his fellow France internationals, are pleading for him to show his full repertoire. Cherki is visibly excited by his spectators, eager to show off his tricks, until a coach comes into frame on the YouTube video and tells them their fun is over.
The coach is Gael Clichy, the former Arsenal and Manchester City full-back, who was serving as Thierry Henry’s assistant coach with France’s men’s Olympic football team in 2024.
“It was a fun game at the end of the session, but it is nothing for Rayan. It’s not one I like him to do, because it is that easy,” Clichy tells The Athletic. “There is no opposition, no obstacle, no creativity to make the player come out of his comfort zone. For him, it is to kill the ball and finish. He can do this for 20 minutes straight and score goal after goal.
Cherki has a natural ability with a football (Nicolas Tucat/AFP via Getty Images)
“There are not many exercises you can create to make Rayan feel uncomfortable. That is how good he is. It is like Arjen Robben with two left feet, or David Beckham with two right feet.”
Clichy knows how advantageous it is to be this gifted on both feet. He grew up playing right-footed but worked so hard with his father to improve his weaker side that he has spent his professional career left-side dominant. For Cherki, being two-footed is part of what makes him such a maverick.
“It means there are no weaknesses when you have the ball,” says Clichy. “As a full-back, if I played against (former Tottenham Hotspur winger) Aaron Lennon, for example, I would close down the line and send him onto his left, as I knew his left foot was weak. You can manage that duel, as when they are not comfortable, he will always try to come back (outside).
“With someone like Rayan’s two feet, if you send him wide, he will go wide. If you send him inside, he will come inside. If you get tight, he can turn you, and even if you are two v one, he can still find someone with a final ball. If you give him space at any angle around the box, he will shoot with either foot. Thank God he is not that fast. In terms of talent, I have never seen someone like it.”
Cherki is a dying breed of player, particularly now he’s been transferred to a Premier League which has moved away from off-the-cuff dribblers and towards set-play schemes.
As a stocky playmaker who rarely sprints and often reduces the game to walking pace in an increasingly breakneck sport populated by iron men, Cherki’s timing of arrival into English football is where the dichotomy lies. But the stylistic clash is also beautiful.
“He is the kind of player fans want to see. He is fun to watch,” says Clichy. “The main quality Rayan has is that even when he is not performing to his best, he can still be decisive. This is the secret.
“You have certain players — I was one of them — that to perform at my best level, I had to go to bed early, drink well, eat well, and prepare properly. If I didn’t feel 100 per cent physically, you would see it in my game. I would have to play differently. With him, even if he is 70 per cent, he will deliver, even if he is 50 per cent and ill, if you find him around the box, he will give an assist or a goal.”
Cherki is unique but plays with a blend of Samir Nasri’s swivel hips and Dimitri Payet’s ball striking. Since returning from a thigh injury sustained at the end of August, he has been in a hurry to showcase his credentials as a match-winner.
A goal and an assist saw off a disciplined Swansea City side in the Carabao Cup, but he followed that up with two assists for Erling Haaland against Bournemouth and registered another goal against Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday. Added to his goal against Wolverhampton Wanderers on his Premier League debut, he has racked up six goal contributions in just 271 minutes since joining from Lyon in June.
Cherki picks a pass against Championship side Swansea in the Carabao Cup (Athena Pictures/Getty Images)
In different circumstances, Cherki would be lining up for Liverpool on Sunday rather than as a home player when they face City at the Etihad.
He was closely tracked by the Anfield club this summer, but Florian Wirtz emerged as their priority. Despite that, Arne Slot honoured a scheduled meeting with Cherki, even though it was clear by this point that he would not be moving to the champions. City swooped instead, signing him for around €40million (£33.7m; $44.4m).
Pep Guardiola started Cherki alongside Phil Foden for the first time against Bournemouth last weekend. The predicament was how the City manager could fit them both into the same team as each prefers to play as the No 10, but he devised a setup that saw them roam along with Jeremy Doku.
Cherki displayed his ability to produce a killer ball as he played Haaland clean through twice, but he has also shown how smooth he is carrying the ball past players and linking play with inventive flicks into tight areas.
“As a manager, he can be frustrating for many reasons — but it is very rare you see anyone with this much quality,” says Clichy.
“He is not a complete player, but in terms of in-possession and being creative, there is no limit to what he can do.”
