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The information surprised more than one. While he has found sparkling form with Olympique Lyonnais (2 goals, 3 assists in 11 matches), Rayan Cherki (21 years old) sees his love rating rise to the highest level. Long considered a huge talent in decline, the attacking midfielder finally seems to have found the right fuel to confirm all his potential. Silver medalist at the Paris Olympic Games with Thierry Henry’s France, Le Gone once again became one of the leaders of the France Espoirs team.
A not so new interest
And since his comeback, some would like to see him soon with Didier Deschamps’ A. Cherki must still confirm his good form over time to really hope to move up a notch in the hierarchy, but it is true that our Blues are clearly lacking creative profiles like the Lyonnais. But be careful, because two nations would like to “steal” Cherki from France: Algeria and therefore Italy. The interest of the Fennecs is not new. As it did with Amine Gouiri and Houssem Aouar, and to avoid a new Fekir case, the Algerian Federation (FAF) targets all dual nationals whose future is uncertain with the Blues.
But RMC Sport recently revealed that Italy had taken advantage of the transalpine origins of one of the player’s grandfathers to try to convince him to don the tunic of the Nazionale. However, it should be remembered that the Italian federation’s interest in Cherki is not that new. Last year, former national coach Roberto Mancini already had his eye on the Gone. Recently, Italian observers were also able to see him at work during the Italy-France Espoirs friendly match (2-2). A meeting during which Cherki had signed a benchmark match (1 goal, 1 assist). A match which convinced Alex Frosio, journalist at the Gazzetta dello Sport and follower of the Italian Hopes, of the need to see Cherki represent his country.
A case which still raises Italy’s big problem
“ I saw him with the Under-21s against Italy and it’s been a long time since I’ve been this excited. Technically, he can do everything, on the right or on the left, he knows how to play with others, he sees the passing lines, he is mobile. Italy lacks such an inventive player outside the penalty area. The only doubt concerns our historical difficulty in recruiting such players. » Others, like independent journalist Valentina Clemente, are, however, a little more measured. “ I don’t know if the general public really knows him to the point of getting excited about this profile. We must not forget that Ligue 1 is not broadcast in Italy, so there is no possibility of seeing him play. Afterwards, yes, there was a rush in the press. There is a lot of interest, everyone here has taken the information from RMC, he is a player who is rated. But the Italian media are also playing with the transfer window, because Cherki has a profile that interests Serie A. »
A downside which is not the only one in this story. If some would love to see a technician like Cherki come and lend a hand to Luciano Spalletti’s team, Valentina Clemente reminds us that this whole affair once again underlines one of the big problems of Italian football and the Squadra Azzurra: the weakness of talent pool. “ When we see Cherki’s profile, as for Retegui (Argentine striker naturalized Italian, editor’s note), it shows that we are increasingly looking for players abroad. This calls into question at the Italian level the transalpine training and its shortcomings which are being felt more and more. This raises questions about the quality of Italian training, the lack of investment from clubs. » And if it hopes to find a solution to this problem, Italy will not shy away from the provision of foreign reinforcements.
