Cherki’s playmaking season

Rayan Cherki has reached 10 assists in his first Manchester City season, giving Pep Guardiola a new creator in a rebuilt attack. (premierleague.com) The 22-year-old joined City from Lyon on June 10, 2025, on a five-year contract through 2030 after making 185 senior appearances for his boyhood club. (mancity.com) Official Premier League statistics list Cherki with eight assists in 25 league appearances, while FBref’s match logs show two more assists in City’s 3-0 win at Chelsea on April 12, 2026, taking him to 10 in all competitions. (premierleague.com) (fbref.com) City entered 2025-26 replacing Kevin De Bruyne’s chance creation after confirming on April 4, 2025, that the Belgian would leave when his contract expired that summer. (mancity.com) Guardiola said on April 5, 2025, that De Bruyne would be “so difficult to replace,” and Cherki arrived two months later as part of that transition. (mancity.com 1) (mancity.com 2) Cherki has not matched De Bruyne’s old output in the league alone, but City have used him as a midfielder-forward hybrid, and the club lists him in the No. 10 shirt in a squad that also includes Phil Foden, Bernardo Silva and Erling Haaland. (premierleague.com) (mancity.com) Guardiola praised Cherki again after the Chelsea match on April 12, calling him “a top talent” and saying he “will become an extraordinary player.” (mancity.com) Cherki said in January that Guardiola’s football “has always been my vision of football,” after what the club described as an initial bedding-in period in England. (mancity.com) Ten assists do not settle City’s long-term midfield planning on their own, but they have turned Cherki from a summer signing into a regular part of the conversation around how City create chances now. (premierleague.com) (mancity.com)