'He has a gift' - Kylian Mbappe hails Rayan Cherki as a 'spectacular talent' after seeing France team-mate 'integrate very well' into Man City team

Cherki struggled with a thigh injury at the start of the 2025-26 campaign but now that he has recovered, the Frenchman has started to feature regularly in Pep Guardiola's team. He has appeared in nine matches across all competitions for the Cityzens, registering three goals and three assists. Cherki is slowly establishing himself as a key member of the City squad and is building an understanding with Erling Haaland, having set up both of the Norwegian's goals against Bournemouth in the Premier League earlier this month.

Cherki has now linked up with his France team-mates for their upcoming World Cup qualifying matches. After watching the City star training with the squad, captain Mbappe spoke highly of the youngster, telling reporters: "He's a special talent. I think he has a gift, which he's making the most of. It's an innate, spectacular talent. He's integrated very well into the group and into Manchester City, which isn't easy. I hope he continues like this. He's started well with us. Now he has the opportunity to return, and I hope he's as good as he was at Manchester City."

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Guardiola has coached some of the greatest players in the world, including Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Lionel Messi at Barcelona, and considers Cherki to be in a similar talent bracket. He declared in October: "Rayan is one of the most talented players I have ever seen in my career. His talent… he is top. The question is how he settles and how he needs to read actions. He started well at the Club World Cup but then had a few weeks off. I have the feeling most of the time when the ball comes to him, the situation is better. But not all the time you have to do exceptional things - just play football. He has something. He is a player who doesn't feel pressure. He is like a street player. He wants the ball when he doesn't have it. But he is here a short time - he needs a little bit of time because in football you learn to play with your mates. But these types of players are intelligent. They see everything."

Former City, Arsenal and France full-back, Gael Clichy has also heaped praise on his compatriot, backing Cherki to reach the level of Etihad Stadium legend Kevin De Bruyne. Clichy told GOAL, via BetMGM: "If we talk about the quality of the player, I haven't seen anyone that good. That's a big quote, but I do feel that if he can bring his off-the-ball game to a certain level, I think we could be talking about a player that can can reach Kevin De Bruyne’s numbers, because in tight spaces, in key areas of the pitch, he can create danger. And this is what you want at City. When you play against a low block team with a defence of five, there's not much space. So you need to have the quality on the on the wing, which I think City are lacking a little bit. You know, you go from Raheem Sterling, Riyad Mahrez and Leroy Sane which for me, as a full back, were a nightmare to play against. I think they lost that."

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