In recent days, the Rayan Cherki case has once again caused a lot of ink to flow here and there. Last Thursday, the 21-year-old footballer made a notable media outing after Olympique Lyonnais’ great 3-2 victory against Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League. Author of a goal and two assists against the German team, the international Espoirs tricolor was bombarded with questions about his future in the mixed zone. But the native of Lyon was rather clear: “for the moment, there are still two matches left (one in the Coupe de France now, editor’s note) and we will see at the end of the season if I am still here.”
The future of Cherki is at the center of debate
On Monday, Cherki once again panicked Lyon and Paris supporters after publishing a tweet. Indeed, he shared photos of himself during the match lost against Paris Saint-Germain on Sunday evening at the Parc des Princes (3-1). All accompanied by “hourglass” emojis. This caused the Rhone community to react, who saw it as a message sent to the club in the capital. But OL fans were quickly reassured when he shared a photo of himself with a “lion” emoji. However, this does not put an end to all the speculation surrounding its future between Rhône and Saône.
Under contract until June 30, 2026, with the possibility of extending until 2027 if he has not changed clubs during the next summer transfer window, the Frenchman is reaching a turning point in his adventure at OL. A club where he was quickly considered an extraordinary talent and where he successfully climbed the ranks one after the other. Once in the pros, his explosion at the highest level took a little longer than expected. It must be said that he was not always understood by his coaches, apart from Laurent Blanc and Pierre Sage. The latter made him an indisputable starter this season.
Paris and Liverpool are on pole
Cherki already has 5 goals and 7 assists in 17 appearances in all competitions. Beyond the numbers, the player born in 2003 is very impressive in the game, while being fair and intelligent. He is one of the centerpieces of OL this season. Obviously, his performances do not go unnoticed. Especially since the clubs know very well that OL is banned from recruiting this winter and must sell players in the coming months. As explained on our site just a month ago, the residents of Groupama Stadium have set a first starting price of €30 million.
We also explained to you that Bayer Leverkusen, Liverpool and Paris Saint-Germain were very interested in his profile. A few weeks later, his courtiers are still there. According to our information, PSG and Liverpool are the two hottest clubs on this issue. They are also pushing to get their hands on Rayan Cherki from January 2025. The idea being to secure the services of the Lyon footballer as quickly as possible, but also to avoid competition which will be even fiercer the next summer. It remains to be seen what the player and OL, whose relations with PSG are frosty, intend to do.
