Manchester United are finally set to watch a £25 million “jaw-dropping” star after Rúben Amorim clarified the type of transfer incomings he wants to see this summer.
Manchester United return to Europa League action on Thursday evening, making the trip across the English Channel to take on Olympique Lyonnais in an enticing quarter-final tie.
In their last European test, Rúben Amorim’s side comfortably saw off Real Sociedad, defeating the Spanish team 5-2 on aggregate to secure their place in the competition’s last eight.
Their opponents Lyon enjoyed an even more emphatic victory in the Round of 16, brushing aside Romanian club FCSB 7-1 over two legs, setting the stage for a mouthwatering encounter with United. Amorim’s men enter the quarter-finals as the only side yet to taste defeat in this season’s Europa League campaign.
However, following consecutive goalless performances against Nottingham Forest and Manchester City in the Premier League, the United boss will be eager to see his team regain their attacking spark in Lyon.
United set to watch “jaw-dropping” star
United are in the market to sign fresh attacking midfielders this summer amid the club’s lack of creative outlets and Amorim needing to inject fresh talent across his front line.
While many names have been linked to the club in the last few months, one player fans are pushing for United to pursue is Lyon midfielder Rayan Cherki, who has been dazzling those in France with his fantastic performances of late.
With Lyon now set to face United across two legs in the Europa League, the club will finally be able to see first-hand why so many fans across football have been raving about the 21-year-old’s fantastic creative abilities and technical flair.
Cherki has been compared to Real Madrid legend Karim Benzema in the past, and former United striker Louis Saha provided a “jaw-dropping” assessment of his talent and technical abilities in midfield.
“I think I would have said differently three or four months ago, but I don’t know what happened in those two or three months,” Saha explained two weeks ago.
“But my God, Cherki has shown not only growth, but he showed that ability to actually grow the other players around him. So this is a big ability and I’m telling you, in terms of quality, when you have this confidence in you it’s just not skills. It’s the ability to turn heads around.
“It’s the ability to actually provide this technique at the right moment, provide this volume of technique at the highest level I am very impressed. I’ve seen an improvement when you look at a few games that he has played, especially the top.”
Cherki is known to have a £25 million release clause in his contract, with the expectation being that the France U21 international will move on this summer.
Amorim publicly addresses transfer plans
United’s chance to watch Cherki in action both at the Groupama Stadium and Old Trafford comes amid the 40-year-old publicly explaining the types of players he wants to recruit at the club this summer.
Amorim initially insisted that he wants to sign “big” players to his side this summer. However, he later clarified that this was instead referring to signing game-changing players who add characteristics his current squad lacks, rather than big name or big money signings.
“It’s characteristics that we don’t have in our squad. Trying to see the gaps we have in our squad, and when I say big players, it’s not players from Real Madrid and etcetera. It’s big players in the way I see the game.”
With Cherki set to feature across both Europa League ties, he is certainly a player with flair and creativity who would add a lot to the current set of United’s forwards.
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