Stop me if you’ve heard this before but there’s this tricky midfielder from Ligue 1 that might be available to Chelsea for a relatively small fee. This midfielder of course is Rayan Cherki from Lyon but if you squint a bit you might think that you’re looking at a young Eden Hazard who tore up France with Lille before moving to Chelsea in 2012.
Cherki is back on the rader of Premier League teams according to Caught Offside and is in the sights of Chelsea, Manchester United, and Liverpool. United is reportedly the most interested and they have the biggest need considering their struggles this season.
The young Frenchman also had a great game against United in the first leg of the Europa League quarterfinals with a man of the match performance. He scored the late equalizer and was the best player on the pitch for both sides as he continues to have an excellent season for Lyon.
Cherki is now up to 10 goals and 18 assists in just 38 games this season and has more than doubled his total in both categories from last year. Lyon is pushing for a Champions League place next season and he has helped them get within one point of third place Marseille in the Ligue 1 table.
The most appealing thing about Cherki at this point is that Lyon are asking for just £20 million in order to secure the transfer. These days you can’t even get a promising Brazilian teenager for less than £15 million so 20 is an absolute bargain for a 21-year-old that already has 179 senior appearances under his belt.
Chelsea have a bit of a logjam in attacking midfield but Cherki plays primarily on the right wing and they could be looking to upgrade both winger positions. They have been linked with a £120 million move for Rodrygo Goes from Real Madrid but could be looking at Cherki as a cut price option instead.
The Brazilian is world class and has done it on the biggest stage but is he £100 million better than Cherki? That is up to Chelsea’s technical staff to decide but from the eye test and the statistics the difference between them doesn’t justify that massive gulf in potential transfer fees.
Liverpool and United are in the hunt for him as mentioned and keeping him away from them might be worth the price alone. Chelsea have talented wingers but they can’t seem to score goals regularly and Cherki is having no problem doing that this season. If this fee of £20 million is really all it takes to get the deal done then Chelsea need to make it happen as soon as possible.