Rayan Cherki is one of the continent's most promising players. The Franco-Algerian is the new jewel that Olympique de Lyon has formed on the banks of the Rhone and, as he did with Benzema more than a decade ago, Real Madrid wants him to land at Castellana.
At 16 years old (he will turn 17 in the middle of this August), the young man is starting to count for Rudi García. After making his debut and scoring under Roche last season, he has accumulated 453 minutes between Ligue 1 (6 games), League Cup (2 games), Champions (1) and French Cup, where he came to see the door until on three occasions that earned him its first headlines. In addition, he gave him time to break it in the Youth League with five goals in four games to overcome the group stage and the knockout stages. At the moment, combining the youth in Europe with the first team, Lyon gives the last heat stroke to Cherki by finishing cooking a star over low heat.
Zinedine Zidane, always attentive to the French market, follows him with interest and has already tested him in 2019 but he will have to wait to have him at his command. According to L'Equipe, the Lyon attacker is going to renew his commitment to OL. This newspaper assures that Cherki will sign his second professional contract with the French club, extending his relationship until 2023 and with the consequent salary improvement. Madrid will have to wait.
Public interest and a dream
When Cherki signed his first professional contract in July 2019, Real Madrid and Manchester United already scored the French striker as explained by Olympique Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas weeks ago. “It is going to go very high. That is why we made a great effort to sign a professional contract with Lyon. When I was going to sign, Real Madrid and Manchester United were interested,” he said.
That if, although the player is going to sign his second contract as a professional in the Rhone region, he has a clear dream and this one happens through the Bernabéu. “My dream is to play for Real Madrid,” he stated bluntly on Olympique's own television, asked why the club preferred the Whites or Barcelona. With the Ballon d'Or also between eyebrows and at such a young age, the Franco-Algerian is determined to be a star and wants to shine at the Bernabéu.