Man Utd and Real Madrid target Mbappe wants has 'ultra-limited football IQ'

Stuart Telford

• 6 Apr 2023 21:26 BST
• 3 min read

Manchester United, Real Madrid and PSG have been credited with an interest in Rayan Cherki, but he was slammed after Lyon lost to Nantes in the Coupe de France semi-finals on Wednesday.

Cherki has long been regarded as one of the brightest talents to come out of the Lyon academy - which is quite the compliment considering Karim Benzema, Hatem Ben Arfa and Alexandre Lacazette have all called it home.

Zinedine Zidance reportedly wanted Real Madrid to commit to buying Cherki should he return to replace Carlo Ancelotti as manager at the end of the season, whilst Paris Saint-Germain superstar Kylian Mbappe views the 19-year-old as an ideal teammate.

READ: PSG planning French revamp to keep Mbappe from Real Madrid

But with Lyon only ninth in Ligue 1 this season, the Coupe de France was seen as their best chance of European qualification this season. But they put in an abject display against Nantes, and RMC journalist Daniel Riolo let fly.

'Footballing mush'

"He has an ultra-limited football IQ," he blasted. "When I see what the Mbappe clan are trying to make of him… I think it'll come to nothing. I don't know how Mbappe and Co. think they're going to put something in his head that he's missing.

"He has no head. He has feet but when the head isn't in control he does something brilliant once in a while but the rest is just mush, it's football mush what Cherki offers."

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

Cherki has often struggled to live up to his billing since making his Lyon debut as a 16-year-old in 2019, although former Man Utd centre-back Laurent Blanc has shown increasing trust in him this season, playing Cherki at N0.10 and building Lyon's team around him.

Cherki has also averaged seven shot-creating actions across the last year in Ligue 1, more than any other player in his position including Mbappe's PSG teammate Lionel Messi, suggesting Riolo's analysis is a bit harsh.