Cherki v Maresca could be one of stories of the season

Rayan Cherki appeared off the bench against Bournemouth on Sunday and helped turn the game around for Manchester City in a dramatic comeback win.

Manager Enzo Maresca will have been relieved by the France playmaker’s assists that ensured he won his first Premier League game in charge of City rather than lost it.

But Cherki himself was clearly not happy at starting the game on the bench. He came on to the pitch with a point to prove, swinging in the corner for Marc Guehi’s equaliser and brilliantly setting up Josko Gvardiol’s added-time winner.

City travel to Crystal Palace on Friday and the 23-year-old will hope his cameo against the Cherries was enough to earn him a start.

“He made an impact the other day,” Maresca told BBC Sport in his pre-match media conference. “In terms of quality, he is a different player to the rest because he can give us moments when we struggle in the last third.

“He has the quality that we need, but it depends also on the game plan and the opponent that we play.

“There is no doubt he’s going to help now and in the future. I am very happy with the way he is working.”

Cherki does not hide unhappiness

Cherki was one of four Manchester City players in the PFA Team of the Year [Getty Images]

Cherki seemed in good spirits on Tuesday evening when posing for pictures and signing autographs for fans at the PFA awards in Manchester, where he was named in the Team of the Year and nominated for the Young Player of the Year award.

His goal contributions last weekend mean he has now provided 12 assists from open play since the start of last season – more than any other Premier League player during that period.

But despite his creativity, Cherki is yet to become a regular starter for City.

Under former manager Pep Guardiola last season he made 33 Premier League appearances – but 14 of those were as a substitute.

At this summer’s World Cup, he played a bit-part role – albeit he is competing against a star-studded array of France forwards.

His only start was against England in the third-fourth place play-off and he was replaced at half-time with his side 4-0 down.

That took his game time to 124 minutes across the whole tournament and videos emerged of Cherki showing apparent displeasure at coach Didier Deschamps.

Maresca admitted after Sunday’s victory that Cherki is not a man to hide his feelings.

“Rayan is quite a nice and clear boy, if he is not happy he wants to show it. If he’s next to me and he’s not happy, you all realise that he is not happy because he is doing anything just to show that he is not happy.”

In City’s recent documentary on Amazon, chief executive Ferran Soriano revealed there were question marks over Cherki’s attitude before he was signed from Lyon for £30m in June 2025.

“The information on Cherki was not so positive, I will be very honest,” said Soriano. “Everybody knew about his abilities, but there was this idea that he was chaotic.”

Maresca was seen striding towards Cherki at full-time on Sunday, before placing his arms around the player’s shoulders and appearing to relay some sort of lecture.

What was said between the pair has not been made public and when asked afterwards if the forward would start a game soon, the Italian replied by saying “absolutely, yeah”.

Cherki’s biggest challenge this season might be to keep his emotions in check and his spirits high if the flamboyant but fiery playmaker has to wait longer than he feels he should for a regular place in City’s starting line-up.

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