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 100 (5)
International career‡
2018 France U16 2 (0)
2021 France U19 3 (2)
2021– France U21 19 (11)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 20 December 2023
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 17 November 2023

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.

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

Club

As of match played 20 December 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 17000——170
Total 1005117206211914
Career total 11210117206213119

Honours

Lyon

References

  1. ↑ "Rayan Cherki". Olympique Lyonnais. Retrieved 9 March 2023.
  2. 1 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.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  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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