Jeremy Doku, Savinho react to bullish Rayan Cherki message ahead of Man City debut
Jeremy Doku and Savinho have reacted to a message from new teammate Rayan Cherki as he prepares to make his Manchester City bow at the Club World Cup.
Man City have the chance to get their hands on some silverware at the Club World Cup over the next month, after an uncharacteristically poor 2024/25 campaign on domestic and European fronts.
Pep Guardiola has already moved to make sure that his side are well-prepared to return to competing with Liverpool and Arsenal again next term, with numerous new players signed despite the summer window not even being open for a month so far.
Lyon playmaker Rayan Cherki moved to City for an initial £30.5million earlier in June, and he has already set his stall out by admitting that he joined the club “to win all the games” they play next season.
Cherki looks set to start the Citizens’ first Club World Cup clash against Wydad AC on Wednesday (18 June) evening, and he is clearly feeling confident about what lies ahead for him with Guardiola’s side.
Jeremy Doku and Savinho react to Rayan Cherki’s message ahead of potential Man City bow
Cherki was chased by both Liverpool and City as he sought an exit from financially-troubled Lyon this summer, but it was the latter who won the race for his signature as he looks to build on a fruitful time in France that saw him notch eight goals and 11 assists in 30 league appearances last season.
He has been training with his new teammates in the USA over the last week since his arrival, and with his debut surely fast approaching, he has taken to Instagram to share pictures of him in his Citizens gear alongside Erling Haaland, with hourglass and bomb emojis as the caption to represent how he is patiently waiting to make his first impact in blue and white.
Cherki’s bullish message has been reacted to with likes on the post by teammates Doku, Savinho, Tijjani Reijnders and Matheus Nunes, while Aston Villa’s Lucas Digne, West Ham’s Emerson and Chelsea’s Malo Gusto have all followed suit.
Man City needed to sign a player like Cherki this summer
Football Insider verdict
Not many Man City fans or neutrals alike were anticipating their fall from grace last season, and even though they did finish a respectable third-place in the Premier League, it was clear that some big changes needed to be made to their squad this summer.
Guardiola has moved to sign Rayan Ait-Nouri, Marcus Bettinelli and Reijnders since the window opened, while Sverre Nypan looks set to join the Citizens from Rosenborg soon, but it is Cherki’s arrival that feels the most significant in terms of their future goals and his potential to be a world class player.
| Appearances | Goals | Assists |
| 185 | 29 | 45 |
City were always needing to sign a playmaker, a true number 10, this summer with Kevin De Bruyne leaving to join Napoli at the end of his contract, and they have found a hugely exciting replacement in Cherki, with his talent clear from his numerous impressive years in the first-team at Lyon.
Not only that, but the French international will bring an air of arrogance and swagger to the Etihad Stadium, and it felt like Guardiola’s side lacked that last term after Rodri’s injury completely derailed their title challenge.
The 21-year-old is exactly the kind of player that the club needed to bring in ahead of 2025/26, but now it is on him and the Catalan boss to find the right set-up and tactics to let the team revolve around him, rather than Cherki having to adjust to a new style, as that could render him much less effective than he was in Ligue 1.