Failed transfer for 2 ME, all of Italy in tears

Rayan Cherki panics England as he did in France with Olympique Lyonnais many years ago. However, his future could have been decided far from Manchester City.

Author of a magnificent goal this weekend in the crucial match against Arsenal, Rayan Cherki continues his impressive progress with Manchester City. It must be remembered that the playmaker is only 22 years old, but he is already establishing himself as a player capable of making big differences in the best championship in the world. This had already been the case for a long time at Olympique Lyonnais, where he was trained and where he very quickly exploded.

Having stayed six years with the professionals, Rayan Cherki finally left OL in 2025 for a transfer of around 48 million euros, bonus included. Enough to give incredible regret to three Serie A teams, who had pushed hard to recruit him in 2019, when he had not yet signed his first professional contract with Lyon and could very well leave his training club free.

Italian media TMW reveals that AC Milan, AS Roma and Juventus jumped at the opportunity to bring him for zero euros. But the zero euro quickly disappeared, to make way for training allowances at OL, but above all for the greed of the player’s agent and his commissions. The total amounted to 2 million euros, and AC Milan, who had organized their visit to Milanello with great fanfare, decided not to put up this sum for a player of only 15 years old. In the process, Juventus and Monchi’s Roma also preferred to give up, considering the demands of Cherki’s clan to be exaggerated.

An understandable caution but which means that today, AC Milan is biting its fingers for not having made the financial effort to recruit the man who is now a French international and one of the most anticipated offensive players in the Premier League. And for their part, OL clearly relish having been able to keep Cherki for many more years, for a professional start in 2025.