If there was an air of inevitability about Erling Haaland scoring Manchester City's first two goals against Bournemouth on Sunday, the same could not be said of the man who provided both of the assists. Rayan Cherki was making his first Premier League start in 10 weeks due to injury, but even before he picked up a thigh problem in August, there were many questions about his suitability to playing for Pep Guardiola.

Cherki has been in the limelight since he was 16, when he became the youngest player to score a goal for Lyon in January 2020. The hype around him was immense, but every breath about his talent was usually quickly caveated by talk of his difficult personality. He played under six coaches while at Lyon and managed to have at least one public disagreement with nearly all of them.

In other words, he was not exactly a player that would normally attract Guardiola, who has had famous run-ins with difficult individuals such as Samuel Eto'o, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Sergio Aguero and Joao Cancelo. To say the least, signing Cherki looked like a bit of a gamble for City, but right now it is paying off handsomely.

Getty ImagesDividing opinion

Rudi Garcia, the man who gave Cherki his debut for Lyon, warned early on of "the danger of making him believe he is already one of the best players on the planet." Peter Bosz, meanwhile, repeatedly left Cherki out of his line-up, while Laurent Blanc admitted to having "heated discussions" with the playmaker over his individualistic tendencies. 

Fabio Grosso dismissed Cherki's unique talent by calling him "a player like any other" and later declared: "He possesses enormous technical abilities, but he needs to work on the others." Pierre Sage went one further after leaving Cherki out of his line-up for several games by removing him from his squad over a contract stand-off. 

It wasn't just coaches that struggled to get on with Cherki, either. In leaked WhatsApp messages, Lyon's American owner John Textor described the homegrown talent as "a little a**hole".

AdvertisementManchester City FCDelivering on potential

Cherki seemed to finally mature in his final season with Lyon. He was reintegrated into the squad by Sage after signing a new contract, which meant he would be able to guarantee his cash-strapped club a transfer fee when he was eventually sold. When Sage was sacked last January, Cherki led the tributes by saying "he leaves an exceptional legacy" after steering the club away from the threat of relegation the previous season.

Cherki then ingratiated himself to new boss Paulo Fonseca by rallying around him after the Portuguese was banned from the touchline for nine months for confronting a referee. But most importantly, Cherki delivered on the pitch, producing consistently brilliant displays on his way to ending the campaign with 12 goals and 20 assists. 

His performances finally backed up the lofty words that had been uttered about him in the past, such as when former Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas claimed, "Cherki can be compared to [Lionel] Messi in terms of his technical quality."

Guardiola, who got the best out of Messi at Barcelona, decided to take a punt on Cherki, who only turned 22 in August. City only had to pay £34 million ($44m) as he had one year left on his Lyon contract, meaning the move represented more upsides than downsides.

Getty Images Sport'Haven't seen anyone that good'

It is worth remembering that Messi, who was described by some Barca team-mates as "The Little Dictator", was not exactly easy to coach. It was, after all, the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner who texted Guardiola on the way back home from one game to tell him how upset he was at being asked to play second fiddle to Ibrahimovic. Some players, though, are worth making exceptions for.

And while Aulas might have exaggerating a little bit – or indeed tried to increase Cherki's value –  when he compared his player with Messi, he is far from alone in viewing Cherki as a generational talent. Former City full-back Gael Clichy worked with Cherki as assistant coach to Thierry Henry for France's Under-21s side and he reserved the highest of praise for his former charge. 

"If we talk about the quality of the player, I haven't seen anyone that good," Clichy told GOAL. "That's a big quote, but I do feel that if he can bring his off-the-ball game to a certain level, I think we could be talking about a player that can can reach Kevin De Bruyne’s numbers, because in tight spaces, in key areas of the pitch, he can create danger. And this is what you want at City."

GeBeware his biggest weakness

While Cherki punished Bournemouth's high press on Sunday, Clichy believes he will be most useful when City come up against more stubborn opponents who are content to defend for 90 minutes. In other words, the games where City have tended to struggle the most. 

"When you play against a low-block team with a defence of five, there's not much space. So you need to have the quality on the on the wing, which I think City are lacking a little bit," he added. "You know, you go from Raheem Sterling, Riyad Mahrez and Leroy Sane which for me, as a full-back, were a nightmare to play against. I think they lost that."

Clichy did not hide away from the area where Cherki needs to improve above all, though: "He will need to be able to show that off ball, out of possession, he can perform, because we know this is his problem. This is his weakness. It was his weakness when he was with us in France. So far, what I've seen in England, this is what people are thinking about him. So if Pep manages to take him to a different level out of possession, I think he will be a tremendous player for City. And I think this is the kind of player that Pep wants. Now in the Premier League it's not just about having the ball, it's also how you deal with transitions. And there is the big job for for Pep."