Rayan Cherki

Mathis Rayan Cherki (born 17 August 2003) is a French professional footballer who plays as attacking midfielder or left winger for Ligue 1 club Lyon.

Rayan Cherki
Cherki playing for Lyon in 2019
Personal information
Full name Mathis Rayan Cherki
Date of birth (2003-08-17) 17 August 2003
Place of birth Lyon, France
Height 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)[1]
Position(s) Attacking midfielder, left winger
Team information
Current team
 Lyon
Number 18
Youth career
2009–2010 Saint-Priest
2010–2019 Lyon
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2019–2020 Lyon B 12 (5)
2019– Lyon 91 (5)
International career‡
2018 France U16 2 (0)
2021 France U19 3 (2)
2021– France U21 17 (9)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 8 October 2023
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 13 October 2023

Early life

Mathis Rayan Cherki was born on 17 August 2003 in Lyon, Lyon Metropolis.[2] Both of Cherki's parents are of Algerian descent; his father, Fabrice, is also of Italian descent.[3][4][5]

Club career

Lyon

Cherki is a product of the youth academy of Lyon, and is considered one of their best-ever prospects. He began playing with their reserve side in the Championnat National 2 at the age of 15.[6] On 7 July 2019, Cherki signed his first professional contract with Lyon until 2022.[7] He made his professional debut in a 0–0 Ligue 1 draw against Dijon on 19 October 2019.[8]

After scoring four goals in the 2019–20 UEFA Youth League, he made his senior European debut on 27 November 2019 in a Champions League group stage game against Zenit, aged 16 years and 102 days,[9] in which he substituted Maxwel Cornet in the 74th minute of a 2–0 loss.[10]

On 4 January 2020, Cherki scored his first senior goal as a substitute in a 7–0 win over Bourg-en-Bresse in the Coupe de France, becoming the youngest-ever player to score a senior goal for Lyon, aged 16 years and 140 days.[11] On 18 January, he was involved in all four of Lyon's goals in a 4–3 win over Nantes in another Coupe de France match; he scored a brace, and assisted the other two goals.[12]

On 19 August 2020, Cherki was subbed on in a UEFA Champions League match against Bayern Munich. In doing so, he became the youngest-ever player to feature in a UEFA Champions League semi-final.[13] Lyon were knocked out of the competition in that match, losing by a score of 3–0 to the eventual winners.[14]

Cherki scored his first Ligue 1 goal in a 3–2 win over Monaco on 2 May 2021. His goal secured the victory for Lyon in the final minutes of the match.[15]

International career

Cherki is eligible to play for either France, Italy or Algeria, the latter due to his parents' origin. Cherki played for the France national under-16 team twice in 2018, both of which were friendlies against Denmark.[16]

Career statistics
As of match played 8 October 2023[2]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Coupe de France Coupe de la Ligue Europe Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Lyon B 2019–20 Championnat National 2 105———105
2020–21 Championnat National 2 10———10
2021–22 Championnat National 2 10———10
Total 125———125
Lyon 2019–20 Ligue 1 6033202[lower-alpha 1]0133
2020–21 Ligue 1 27133——304
2021–22 Ligue 1 16000—4[lower-alpha 2]2202
2022–23 Ligue 1 34451——395
2023–24 Ligue 1 8000——80
Total 915117206211014
Career total 10310117206211219
  1. Appearances in UEFA Champions League
  2. Appearances in UEFA Europa League

Honours

Lyon

References
  1. "Rayan Cherki". Olympique Lyonnais. Retrieved 9 March 2023.
  2. "R. Cherki: Summary". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
  3. JuventusNews24, Redazione (24 February 2020). "Calciomercato Juve, il consiglio di Matuidi: "È un giocatore di grande talento"". Juventus News 24 (in Italian). Retrieved 5 June 2020.
  4. "Cherki, un joyau que la fédération doit viser: Toute l'actualité sur liberte-algerie.com". Liberte Algerie.
  5. "Rayan Cherki (OL), une entreprise familiale façon Kylian Mbappé - Foot - L1 - OL". L'Équipe (in French). Retrieved 29 January 2020.
  6. "Qui est Rayan Cherki, le grand espoir du football français ?". www.cnews.fr (in French). 20 January 2020.
  7. "Rayan Cherki signs first professional contract with OL". www.OL.fr. Olympique Lyonnais. 7 July 2019.
  8. "Olympique Lyonnais vs. Dijon - 19 October 2019 - Soccerway". ca.soccerway.com.
  9. "The UEFA Champions League's youngest players". UEFA. 29 July 2020.
  10. "Zenit v Lyon game report". UEFA. 27 November 2019.
  11. "After Bourg – OL (CDF) : Rayan Cherki, the youngest scorer in the history of OL". www.OL.fr. Olympique Lyonnais. 5 January 2020. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  12. "Cherki praised as teenage sensation stars in Lyon win". www.ligue1.com. 19 January 2020. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
  13. May, Sam (5 September 2020). "Rayan Cherki: All you need to know about Lyon's 17-year-old wonderkid". The Football Faithful. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
  14. Dawkes, Phil (19 August 2020). "Bayern breeze past Lyon to set up PSG showdown". BBC Sport. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
  15. "Rayan Cherki late goal earns Lyon win at Monaco to keep Champions League qualification push alive". Eurosport. 2 May 2021. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  16. "Joueur - Rayan CHERKI - FFF". FFF.fr (in French). Archived from the original on 3 August 2020. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
  17. "Paris St-Germain beat Lyon in French League Cup final for another treble". BBC Sport. 31 July 2020. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
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