The January transfer window is just a couple of weeks away and even the title front-runners are making moves to strengthen for the second half of the season.
Liverpool lead the Premier League but ongoing speculation about Mo Salah’s future has threatened to distract from their efforts. The uncertainty hasn’t derailed them so far but the identification of new attacking options is essential.
According to reporting by Foot Mercato, Rayan Cherki of Lyon is a top target for the Reds. With Ligue 1 leaders PSG also chasing the 21-year-old, Cherki is preparing to leave his boyhood club in January.
Liverpool target Rayan Cherki is set to leave beleaguered Lyon
Lyon, whose majority owner John Textor is also the biggest shareholder in Crystal Palace, have massive and growing debts. They’ve been placed under a transfer embargo and provisionally relegated to Ligue 2.
Textor considers the realisation of the larger sanction unlikely but in combination the transfer ban and potential relegation offer ample motivation for Lyon-born Cherki to head for pastures new.
Cherki’s star is on the rise this season and he’s been on fire since the November international break, scoring two goals and assisting two more in Lyon’s four subsequent Ligue 1 fixtures.
In Lyon’s most recent Europa League tie, he scored one and made two in a 3-2 win against Bundesliga outfit Eintracht Frankfurt.
Cherki’s ability to play creatively in the hole or on either wing has attracted the attention of Liverpool and PSG, who can expect to pay in the region of £25 million as OL look to ease their financial troubles.
Lyon might prefer to sell a homegrown player to a club outside France. Interest from Bayer Leverkusen has also been reported.
Cherki is contracted to Lyon until the summer of 2026. He’s at his peak value in the lifetime of that deal, in form on the pitch with 18 months to go. Lyon’s circumstances demand they capitalise on that and his departure seems certain.
After 22 goals and 32 assists in 158 senior appearances for Lyon, the player is circumspect about his future in public, telling the press after the game against Eintracht Frankfurt that, “We’ll see at the end of the season if I’m still here.”
Liverpool will be eager to get back to winning ways on Sunday, when they visit Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League having drawn their last two league matches and conceding five goals in the process.
They lead Chelsea by two points and have a game in hand over the Premier League’s form side.