“There, it’s Cher kif”… Is Rayan Cherki finally the player he promised to be?

Are you more Team Roulette from Mariot in Brétigny during the 2019 Gambardella Cup or equally astounding “classic” Team Roulette on the AS Monaco surface in May 2023? We are obviously talking about major aesthetic strokes of brilliance by the artist Rayan Cherki, capable of shattering YouTube and social networks in a fraction of a second. Four years separate these two actions, and during all this time, we feared that the new planned star of the OL academy would never settle down long-term in the professional world with his training club.

There were some great performances in the Europa League with Peter Bosz and in the France Espoirs team (ah, that famous two-goal-two-pass combo in the 9-0 against Cyprus), a nice period as leader of game installed under Laurent Blanc in early 2023 or even a valuable role of supersub with Pierre Sage in the return phase of Ligue 1 last season. But never have Lyon supporters been able to revel as much in the duration of their number 18 as since September 22 and the end of his sidelining via his contract extension (until 2027), at 21 years old.

A “puzzle” compilation in Glasgow

Before the Europa League match at Hoffenheim this Thursday (9 p.m.), the masterclass Rayan Cherki’s final victory took place during the previous European trip to Glasgow Rangers (1-4), even more than his very solid matches against Olympiakos, Nantes, Le Havre (yum, that scarf) and Lille. Supporter of OL, Mathias (24 years old) was on this occasion completely able to realize the peak of hype from the Lyon attacking midfielder. On the evening of October 3, the man who often makes video compilations of players, particularly OL, on his Twitter/X Matolisso account (10,400 subscribers), is in high demand.

“I have never had as many mentions as during that match,” he smiles. Around a hundred people wanted me to publish a compilation of Rayan Cherki’s match in Glasgow as quickly as possible. In less than three hours, my video already had 1 million views. » This crazy success, commensurate with the two candies offered by the person concerned to double scorer Malick Fofana, is nothing new for Mathias. “A Cherki compilation gets at least 1 million views each time,” he assures. Because who says prosperous period of Rayan Cherki also says compilations of highlights to be enjoyed as deliciously as packets of Maltesers.

« With Cherki, I’m used to having too much material to make a video. He is truly a player who joined Lyon in the tradition of Nabil Fekir and Houssem Aouar. He raises the crowds and creates a lot of danger, even during periods when he is irregular. It is therefore not easy to condense your match into 2’20” of images as Twitter/X allows. But there in Glasgow, it was a headache as there were so many notable actions throughout the match. For the highlights format, there is no better than him and Lamine Yamal in Europe. »

The most efficient dribbler in Europe according to Data’Scout

Holder of a master’s degree in data analytics (data analysis), this Lyon supporter was able to see this week that Rayan Cherki had become the most effective dribbler in Europe, according to the Data’Scout account. Among the five biggest championships, the international Espoirs displays an incredible success percentage in his dribbling (83.33%), far ahead of Cody Gakpo, Florian Wirtz, Rafael Leao and Mohamed Salah. The data proves that his endless periods of bad choices and forced actions seem to be behind him.

But if we are content with highlights dribbling so “football of 2024”, we risk missing Rayan Cherki’s main transformation. “His passes are even more impressive than his dribbling,” says Vincent, a delighted Lyon supporter. I always hoped to see him at this level at OL. He has been mistakenly given the image of a brainless dribbler in some media, but he has an above-average passing sense. There, it’s “Rayan Dear kif”! »

“He’s THE player that people love”

This 100% Lyonnais pun clearly deserves the same success as that of the OL wisp at the moment. “I find that until now Cherki lacked the athletic dimension essential at a very high level,” continues Vincent. But there, he no longer has this deficit in the kidney thrust and in the shoulder duel, and that is in my opinion the key. All he needs is finishing in the surface [7 buts en 122 matchs de Ligue 1]but it is perhaps the hardest walk for him as it is not a killer. He doesn’t really have any stats yet but he’s THE player we’ll love, with a somewhat anachronistic profile in today’s football. »

With the downsides that should be mentioned, even in this period full of 6 starts in the last 7 matches. “We have to be honest: we don’t see in my compilations Cherki’s defensive replacement flaws like in Lille (1-1), where he still sometimes put Maitland-Niles in difficulty,” Mathias mentions.

A departure to fear from the next transfer window?

After having received several warnings on highlights on matches in Ligue 1. Fortunately, he still has the Europa League, Rayan Cherki’s favorite playground (3 goals and 5 assists in 7 matches) to have fun doing video compilations.

Our file on OL

At the risk of seeing him leave the fold this winter or next summer in the event of a good offer, given the endless increase in OL’s debt, Eagle/Textor version? “Some people believe on the networks that thanks to me, the value of Cherki increases,” confides Mathias. But even if my compilations give him visibility, the professional clubs don’t need me to know his talent. Especially not for a month and a half.