Thierry Henry sends strong message to 'annoyed' Man Utd & Chelsea target

Tom Weber

Updated: 19 Mar 2024 09:05 CDT
4 min read

Thierry Henry, Rayan Cherki, Lyon, France — © IMAGO

France U23 boss Thierry Henry has challenged Lyon wonderkid Rayan Cherki to step up his game.

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The French youngster is enduring a very disappointing season. Lyon have struggled this term, but the homegrown has often been powerless to help out his boyhood club.

Concerns about his attitude and frequent underwhelming performances have seen Cherki lose his place in Lyon's side this season, with the 20-year-old often limited to a substitute role. Cherki did not get along with Lyon's previous coach Fabio Grosso, who insisted that the highly-rated talent is 'not special.'

However, even with Grosso gone and Pierre Sage now in charge, the attacking midfielder's fortunes haven't improved. Cherki has not started a Ligue 1 game since getting hooked at halftime against Stade Rennais on January 26.

Henry urges Cherki to improve

Cherki's lack of minutes resulted in him not receiving an initial call-up to Thierry Henry's latest French U23 squad. However, after scoring and assisting off the bench against Toulouse and with two players having pulled out of the team due to injury, the 20-year-old has now been brought back into the fold.

After Cherki, at last, netted his first Ligue 1 goal of the season, Sage said that the player "needed to be angry" to which Henry has now responded. “He should have been annoyed for the last three months, shouldn’t he? He has woken up. That’s good," Henry said.

"Not seeing his name on the list should have annoyed him. He needs to show consistency because there is a huge difference between sometimes showing character and showing character all the time. I’m not talking about his quality, because I have never seen a player in history who dribbles as quickly as him, with both feet."

"But he made a thunderous debut, very young and to not be starting matches today, that means what it means. We all like watching Cherki play, but he has to perform well. He loves football and he knows what he has to do to return to the foreground.”

"Returning to the foreground" will also help Cherki in ending his Lyon misery. The youngster's future continues to be the subject of speculation, with Chelsea and Man Utd interested, as revealed by FootballTransfers.