Lyon and Manchester City reach agreement over Rayan Cherki – Contract to be signed in coming hours | OneFootball

Manchester City and Olympique Lyonnais have reached an agreement over a deal for Rayan Cherki, according to emerging reports in France.

The 21-year-old has emerged as Manchester City officials’ primary target in the attacking midfield position this summer, having previously withdrawn interest in Bayer Leverkusen’s Florian Wirtz owing to financial concerns.

The Germany international was initially viewed as the best-placed player to succeed Kevin De Bruyne in the attacking midfield ranks, until Manchester City became aware of the overall financial package it could take to sign the playmaker, believed to be around €300 million.

As such, the likes of Hugo Viana and Txiki Begiristain quickly re-focussed their attentions elsewhere in the European market, and settled upon Rayan Cherki as not only an excellent market opportunity, but also an extremely talented player to bring into their squad.

Shining while on international duty with France over the last few days, Manchester City appear to have now overcome a slight hurdle in appeasing Lyon’s financial demands for the player, having previously made a low-ball €23 million verbal offer to the club.

That is according to the information of L’Equipe’s Loic Tanzi and Hugo Guillemet, who have revealed that officials at Olympique Lyonnais have now reached an agreement with Manchester City over a deal for Rayan Cherki on Monday morning.

It is further revealed that the 21-year-old France international will sign a five-year contract at the Etihad Stadium ‘in the coming hours’, while the agreement and pending transfer has also been confirmed by Fabrizio Romano.

The Athletic’s David Ornstein has detailed that the total agreement in place between Lyon and Manchester City is worth in the region of €40 million, with a medical test expected to take place on Tuesday.

The attacking midfielder is expected to become the third major signing for Manchester City this transfer window, after the weekend brought about two medical tests being successfully completed followed by the various documentation signing processes.

Rayan Ait-Nouri is due to arrive as a Manchester City player for the first time later in the week after penning a long-term agreement at the Etihad Stadium, with Etihad bosses agreeing to a €36.3 million deal with Wolves for the left-back.

The Algerian international’s formal announcement is then likely to be followed by confirmation of a deal for AC Milan and the Netherlands’ Tijjani Reijnders, joining the club on another five-year deal in an initial €55 million agreement.

Alongside Ait-Nouri and Reijnders, the completion of a deal for Rayan Cherki will likely see the Frenchman and his other new arrivals join up with Manchester City in the United States for the FIFA Club World Cup, which begins later this month.