
Rayan Cherki
Olympique Lyon, 2019-
Rayan Cherki had five Ligue 1 campaigns under his belt at the age of just 20 years old, such was his prodigious talent. In that time the French attacker had developed into a fine player and mainstay of the Olympique Lyon side – his boyhood team in every sense. How long he stays with them remains to be seen, with clubs of the stature of Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain and Liverpool all reportedly among his plentiful admirers.
Born in Lyon in 2003, Cherki has been capped by France at Under-21 level and won a silver medal as part of the 2024 Paris Olympics team coached by Thierry Henry. This, having made his Lyon debut aged 16 years and 63 days, and playing in a Champions League semi final shortly after his 17th birthday.
Below, UEFA-licensed coaches from Coaches’ Voice have analysed Cherki’s game, including his technical attributes and positions…
Technical analysis
Cherki is a left-footed attacking player who is comfortable as a wide midfielder/winger and in more advanced central-midfield roles (below) – typically in 4-2-3-1 and 4-3-3 formations. An exceptional technician, he is a skilled manipulator of the ball. He is able to dribble and travel with possession to evade pressure in extremely congested situations that others are unable to escape from. As such, he has been compared to no less than Lionel Messi, thanks to his distinctive dribbling. Indeed, Cherki’s creativity and unpredictability in attacking areas are his most telling features. He executes passes and actions with a flair and disguise that make it difficult for defenders to anticipate his intentions.

Winger
When playing as a winger, Cherki has most often played on the right-hand side. There, he often receives on his front, left foot to start dribbles quickly and with more immediate control; although he often receives and manipulates the ball with his sole for greater control and change of direction. From a wider start position, Cherki will drift into the right half-space and make horizontal movements behind the opposition’s midfield line, roaming into spaces where he can receive when the opposition open up.
Upon receiving, he will look to dribble at defenders in 1v1 situations (below). He often shifts his body weight with exaggeration numerous times, manipulating the ball with double-stepovers to unbalance defenders and create space.

In and around the penalty area, he is able to attack both inside and outside defenders. His preference is to attack aggressively on a defender’s inside shoulder, looking to open up a shot into the far corner, using the defender’s body as a guide while disrupting the goalkeeper’s line of sight. This type of finish is naturally available to Cherki when he travels inside from his wider-right starting position.
When defenders overcommit to defending this inside option – or Cherki is able to more effectively open up the space on the outside using body feints or ball manipulations – he will often use a quick and short diagonal touch to create space outside the defender. There, he can drive a strike with power across goal with his right foot before defenders are able to react and recover to block (below).

Attacking midfielder
Cherki is also capable of playing in more advanced central-midfield positions. This can be as a central attacking midfielder in a 4-2-3-1, or as a more advanced central midfielder in an attack-oriented 4-3-3 – as Lyon head coach Pierre Sage has deployed him at times.
In congested central areas, Cherki is proficient in receiving and protecting possession against pressure (below). He will receive on his front foot to protect the ball on the safe-side away from the defender, using his body and outstretched arm as a physical barrier to restrict attempts to intercept or pinch possession. He is also able to navigate his way out of pressure using exceptional ball control and skill, while his ability to draw pressure is extremely useful in creating space for follow-up actions. This initially reduces the space for him to escape from, but creates space for teammates he can then pass to.

Cherki’s flair and creativity in the final third – particularly in dangerous central areas – pose a consistent threat. He continuously scans to be in a position to slide through balls into teammates when opportunities arise (below). In these moments he disguises his intentions intelligently, frequently deceiving opponents by looking and positioning his body orientation away from his desired targets. His weight of pass is precise in these situations, efficiently inviting teammates on to his passes. Cherki is far from predictable in these moments, being as likely to play simple, quick combinations around and in behind defensive structures as he is to scoop a pass in behind.

Out of possession
Cherki is neither a particularly intensive presser nor the most competitive in duels and aerial duels. He does, however, possess a versatility without the ball that stems from experience of pressing from both central and wider areas.
In the wider areas he is capable of recognising and waiting for triggers, pressing in to out to lock opposition full-backs wide (below). In doing so he can make play predictable, giving a teammate an opportunity to regain from wide pressing traps.

On pressing triggers in more central positions, he has experience of being relied upon to react and regain with more aggressive, straight pressing runs. There his lack of combativeness can be a limitation, but that is something he can develop as he matures and gains more experience.
For now, the interest of clubs around Europe is primarily based on his attacking abilities. And transfer talk aside, his developmental trajectory suggests that he cannot be too far away from earning a first international cap for France.
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