Following the discovery of an exceptional skill by Rio Ferdinand, supporters of Manchester United demanded that Lyon’s most incisive player be signed as soon as possible.
Rayan Cherki, a 21-year-old winger for Manchester United, quietly shown a potential that few can equal during the first half of the Red Devils’ Europa League quarter-final second leg against Lyon, a team from Ligue 1. Former Manchester United defender and commentator Ferdinand was eagle-eyed during the opening 45 minutes of the encounter.
With a 2-0 lead going into halftime and a 4-2 advantage in the match, United was 45 minutes away from advancing to the semifinals of the European Championship. This came at the conclusion of a disastrous season for United.
On the other hand, Cherki was a force to be reckoned with when Lyon was on the offensive, both from open play and from corner kicks.
While Ferdinand was on commentary duties for TNT Sports with Darren Fletcher and Robbie Savage, the highly regarded kid was taking the set pieces from both sides of the pitch with either foot. Ferdinand was shocked by this.
“May I just say that? Are you Cherki? By the way, he’s two-footed,” the former England international said with a beaming smile.
Fletcher mentioned that he, too, had seen that Cherki was taking corners with both feet, which prompted Ferdinand to make a comparable observation that was rather unexpected.
Nigel Quashie, who used to play for QPR and was in the under-13 Sunday league, was the last guy I saw doing it. He was taking every single one of them with both feet. Indeed, it was hypnotic.
During his highly successful career in the Premier League and English Football League, Quashie played for a number of different teams, including Nottingham Forest, Portsmouth, Southampton, West Brom, and West Ham. However, he was relegated from the top flight four times, which is not a desirable distinction.
The number of corner takers who are two-footed is not nearly as uncommon as Ferdinand recalls.
Another notable set piece expert was Santi Cazorla, who had previously played for Arsenal. Ferdinand also made the shameful mistake of overlooking the corner kick mastery of Allan McLeod, who had previously played for Tooting and Mitcham United with the fullback position.
Cherki is in excellent form and is in high demand, but Quashie and McLeod’s previous exploits never brought them to the attention of Manchester United.
In light of the fact that Lyon is anticipated to be forced to sell at a price that is lower than intended owing to their current financial crisis, United supporters on social media are as eager as mustard.
Another person on X, which was once known as Twitter, expressed their excitement by posting, “We should be speaking with Cherki’s agent while this game is on going, and he should be signed for the twenty million dollars before he’s back on the plane home.”
At first glance, the yell “Garna for Cherki, swap deal at halftime” appeared to be an ambitious one; yet, one never knows.
Another person said, “I need Amad x Cherki hoops at the theatre man because I need them.”
“Is Cherki a player who uses both feet? Another supporter concurred with us, saying, “Yeah, left sided 10, Amad right sided 10.”
Fans also took note of the teenage winger’s ability to take corners, with one fan posting the following: “Cherki taking that corner with his right foot and finding a man knowing damn well that he’s left footed.” At my club, I am in desperate need of this skill.
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