Rayan Cherki gives green light to potential €40M Manchester City transfer | OneFootball

Lyon’s Rayan Cherki has given his go-ahead to complete a sensational switch to the Etihad Stadium and join hands with Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, as per a new report.

Cherki has been identified as a priority target for the 2023 treble winners to bolster their attacking midfield ranks after Manchester City withdrew interest in Bayer Leverkusen’s Florian Wirtz, who is nearing a move to Liverpool.

Kevin De Bruyne is set to join Napoli on a two-year deal and will not be part of Manchester City’s travelling squad for the upcoming FIFA Club World Cup after the Belgian was told he is not part of Guardiola’s plans next season.

Manchester City are expected to make four to five new signings ahead of the 2025-26 campaign and chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak has outlined the club’s aim of securing all new arrivals in time for the Club World Cup in a few weeks’ time.

Nottingham Forest’s Morgan Gibbs-White and AC Milan’s Tijjani Reijnders are also highly wanted at the Etihad Stadium as incoming sporting director Hugo Viana looks to back Guardiola in the transfer market after a disappointing 2024-25 campaign.

City failed to challenge for the Premier League and UEFA Champions League titles this season and their misery compounded when Eberechi Eze’s first-half strike was enough for Crystal Palace to see Guardiola and co off in the FA Cup final at Wembley.

Changes are expected aplenty in the summer transfer window and that will begin with a series of harsh decisions on the futures of players who have not lived up to the mark in recent seasons for Manchester City.

Jack Grealish is expected to depart on loan or on a permanent basis, Kyle Walker will be sold after returning from his loan spell at AC Milan, Kalvin Phillips has no future under Guardiola whilst uncertainty looms over what the coming months may have in store for the likes of Ederson, Stefan Ortega Moreno, Bernardo Silva and John Stones.

However, Manchester City are stepping up the pursuit of their key transfer targets in attacking areas as they identify who they would like to bring in at right-back, with Newcastle’s Valentino Livramento and Wolves’ Rayan Ait-Nouri highly rated at the Etihad Stadium.

Now, as per Santi Aouna reporting on X, Manchester City have received a green light from Lyon midfielder Rayan Cherki to move to the Etihad Stadium as Hugo Viana and co engineer a deal with the Ligue 1 club for the Frenchman.

Personal terms will not be an issue for Cherki at Manchester City, who intend to speed up their pursuit of the 21-year-old to rule out the possibility of another club hijacking their move for the attacking midfielder, who will be a potent addition to Guardiola’s ranks.

It has been mentioned that an agreement could be reached in the region of €40 million as Manchester City aim to close the deal in time for Cherki to be registered in the newfound transfer window between June 1-10 and jet off to the United States for the Club World Cup with his new club.