Chelsea target French wonderkid Zidane has wanted for years

Stuart Telford

• 2 Jul 2023 10:13 BST
• 3 min read

Chelsea are reportedly interested in French wonderkid Rayan Cherki, Lyon's attacking midfielder whom Zinedine Zidane is known to be an admirer of.

The Blues have already been busy in the summer transfer market, with nine players leaving to make way for big-money arrivals such as Christopher Nkunku's from RB Leipzig and Nicolas Jackson's from Villarreal.

But Todd Boehly and Co. aren't finished there, with the Daily Express reporting that they have also shortlisted Cherki, who has impressed since breaking into the Lyon first team as a 16-year-old in 2019.

READ: Zidane tells Real Madrid: sign rising Ligue 1 star and I'll return

"Chelsea insider Simon Phillips is reporting that the Blues are considering a swoop for the attacker, who could generate Lyon some much-needed cash," they write.

A French attacking midfielder of Algerian descent, like Zidane, Cherki has long since appealed to the legendary No.10.

Zidane, one of the few figures in football to have won the Champions League as a player and manager, reportedly wanted Florentino Perez to commit to signing Cherki should he return to replace Carlo Ancelotti in the Santiago Bernabeu hotseat this summer.

READ: Chelsea Transfers: Five in, EIGHTEEN out on day of MAYHEM

How good is Cherki?

Despite making his debut as 16-year-old three years ago, it wasn't until the season just finished that Cherrki started the majority of games for Lyon Ligue 1, with Zidane's former France teammate Laurent Blanc showing faith in the youngster.

To say he repaid it would be an understatement. Cherki's 10 goal-involvements from 34 appearances are not to be sniffed at, but his averages of four successful take-ons per game over the last year as well as six shot-creating actions put him in the upper echelon by those metrics Europe-wide.

Cherki has an ETV of €19.9 million per FootballTransfer' in-house algorithm, and Lyon's asking price should be well within Chelsea's budget - especially now they have sold Kai Havertz to Arsenal for £65m as well as three players to Saudi Arabia.