Guardiola praises Cherki’s ‘incredible skills’ after Manchester City debut

Pep Guardiola praised Rayan Cherki’s “incredible skills” following his debut for Manchester City in their Club World Cup win over Wydad Casablanca on Wednesday.

Cherki arrived from Lyon this month as City quickly set about adding to their squad after a 2024-25 campaign without a major trophy. Left-back Rayan Ait-Nouri and midfielder Tijjani Reijnders have also been brought in from Wolves and AC Milan respectively, with Marcus Bettinelli joining from Chelsea to boost the goalkeeping ranks.

Reijnders and Cherki made their bows for the club in Philadelphia as City began their Club World Cup campaign with a comfortable 2-0 win.

Cherki played through the middle in front of Reijnders, but was largely a peripheral figure in a one-sided contest.

But asked about Cherki’s performance in the context of filling the void left by Kevin De Bruyne following his departure, Guardiola was clearly not prepared to make any sweeping statements after one game.

He told a post-match press conference: “Of course, Kevin is difficult to replace, we know that.

“For the quality that he has, there is no doubt about that. But at the same time, the club decided on Rayan, he has incredible skills close to the box, an incredible vision and pass, he has many, many things.

‘”[Today] was just the first game in very tough conditions but I am really pleased that he is here.”

Speaking earlier to DAZN about Reijnders and Cherki, Guardiola said: “It’s good that they played. Tijji played really good, Rayan played good moments. Everyone has to know us and see what happens.”

Phil Foden’s second-minute goal and a 42nd-minute strike from Jeremy Doku gave City the points in the Group G clash.

But of clear irritation to Guardiola was an 88th-minute red card shown to Rico Lewis for a sliding challenge in which he got the ball, only to then follow through and catch Wydad’s Samuel Obeng in the face.

Guardiola was seen remonstrating with referee Ramon Abatti after the game and later he said of the decision: “He [Abatti] thought the leg was a little bit high, but he was on the grass. He touched the ball.

“For the speed they go to touch the ball – for the Newton’s theory your leg has to be a little bit higher and the other player was down. Rico had no intention.

“Rico is the person who never has intention to hurt anyone for his style of play.

“It was unnecessary, honestly, the red card, but the referee had a different opinion and he’s the boss. They checked VAR, so we accept it.”

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