Why Man Utd and Real Madrid are on red alert over Rayan Cherki
Robin Bairner
- 10 Aug 2022 12:29 BST
- 3 min read
Manchester United and Real Madrid have long held an interest in Lyon winger Rayan Cherki, and the 18-year-old could potentially come onto the market before the end of the 2022 summer transfer window.
Cherki has been rated as one of Europe’s top young players for years because of his combination of outstanding technical ability, speed and confidence. He has already turned out 50 times in the league for Lyon’s first team but missed the end of the 2021/22 season because of injury.
Real Madrid are known to have been long-time admirers of the young Frenchman, while Man Utd made a failed transfer bid for him in 2020, when his contract was last up for renewal with Lyon.
Crucially, though, his contract is up in 2023 and OL are insistent that they will not lose him on a free transfer.
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Lyon tell Cherki: Extend or leave!
“In this case, it’s either they extend or leave,” Bruno Cheyrou, the club’s technical director, told OLTV when asked about players whose deals are up in less than 12 months.
“As a club, we are entitled to ask that they commit to the medium term with us because we are at the beginning of a project over several years. We don't want to make it a ‘one-shot’ thing, a shot at the Champions League and then nothing. We want to stay as high as possible for as long as possible.
“We need to be able to have players fully involved in the project, but with a one-year contract, it's harder to imagine the guys being involved.”
Houssem Aouar and Moussa Dembele are other prominent players in a similar situation to Cherki, with the latter another who has been long been associated with a possible move to Man Utd.
Le Progres, the local paper, says that the possibility of these players departing before the end of the summer is real.
Real Madrid and Man Utd, then, must be alert to the possibilities opening up in Lyon.
