Manchester City bolstered their squad on Tuesday by signing 21-year-old attacking midfielder Rayan Cherki.
Cherki signed a five-year deal that will keep him at the Etihad Stadium until 2030, completing a move from Olympique Lyonnais.
The France international became City’s third signing of the summer, following the arrivals of Rayan Ait-Nouri and Marcus Bettinelli. He will be available for the upcoming Fifa Club World Cup in the United States.
“This is a dream for me. Honestly, to be joining a club like Manchester City and have the opportunity to make the next step in my career here is something very, very special," Cherki said.
“I have worked so hard for this all my life. I love this sport, and I can’t wait to develop further here in Manchester with Pep and his backroom staff."
Regarded as one of the most exciting young talents in world football, Cherki began his career in Lyon’s academy and made his senior debut at just 16. He went on to make 185 appearances for the Ligue 1 side, scoring 29 goals and registering 45 assists.
The 2024/25 campaign saw him named Uefa Europa League young player of the season as he finished the top assist provider in the competition – a feat he replicated in Ligue 1 as well. Cherki registered 20 assists across all competitions.
At the international level, Cherki made his senior debut for the French national team in last week’s Uefa Nations League finals.
He made an eye-catching debut when he came off the bench and scored in a 5-4 Nations League loss to Spain. He then started in France’s 2-0 win over Germany three days later, helping his country secure third place in the tournament.
Cherki also represented France at the Olympic Games last summer, playing a key role as they secured a silver medal.
“Everyone knows how good City are – they have been so successful for many years now. The responsibility to help the team continue winning is something I want to embrace," Cherki added.
“I would only leave Lyon for a project I really believe in and everything at City suggests I can develop my game and help the team be successful in the future. I can’t wait to show City fans what I can do.”
After another significant signing, director of Football Hugo Viana said: “We’re very happy to have Rayan at City. We want to bring top talent to the club, and he falls into that category.
“He’s a player our scouts have watched for a long time, and we have all been impressed with his skill and creativity. I am convinced our fans will be excited to see him play.
“There’s no doubt that he’s now in the best place possible to develop further under Pep’s guidance and I really believe he can become a world-class player with our support and direction.”
City’s latest transfer activity continues an overhaul of the squad that began with the January signings of Omar Marmoush, Nico Gonzalez, Abdukodir Khusanov and Vitor Reis.
Further deals are also possible as the club respond to a disappointing season in which they failed to mount a strong Premier League title defence and exited the Champions League before the last 16.
Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
Key changes
Commission caps
For life insurance products with a savings component, Peter Hodgins of Clyde & Co said different caps apply to the saving and protection elements:
• For the saving component, a cap of 4.5 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 90 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).
• On the protection component, there is a cap of 10 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 160 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).
• Indemnity commission, the amount of commission that can be advanced to a product salesperson, can be 50 per cent of the annualised premium for the first year or 50 per cent of the total commissions on the policy calculated.
• The remaining commission after deduction of the indemnity commission is paid equally over the premium payment term.
• For pure protection products, which only offer a life insurance component, the maximum commission will be 10 per cent of the annualised premium multiplied by the length of the policy in years.
Disclosure
Customers must now be provided with a full illustration of the product they are buying to ensure they understand the potential returns on savings products as well as the effects of any charges. There is also a “free-look” period of 30 days, where insurers must provide a full refund if the buyer wishes to cancel the policy.
“The illustration should provide for at least two scenarios to illustrate the performance of the product,” said Mr Hodgins. “All illustrations are required to be signed by the customer.”
Another illustration must outline surrender charges to ensure they understand the costs of exiting a fixed-term product early.
Illustrations must also be kept updatedand insurers must provide information on the top five investment funds available annually, including at least five years' performance data.
“This may be segregated based on the risk appetite of the customer (in which case, the top five funds for each segment must be provided),” said Mr Hodgins.
Product providers must also disclose the ratio of protection benefit to savings benefits. If a protection benefit ratio is less than 10 per cent "the product must carry a warning stating that it has limited or no protection benefit" Mr Hodgins added.
Six large-scale objects on show
- Concrete wall and windows from the now demolished Robin Hood Gardens housing estate in Poplar
- The 17th Century Agra Colonnade, from the bathhouse of the fort of Agra in India
- A stagecloth for The Ballet Russes that is 10m high – the largest Picasso in the world
- Frank Lloyd Wright’s 1930s Kaufmann Office
- A full-scale Frankfurt Kitchen designed by Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, which transformed kitchen design in the 20th century
- Torrijos Palace dome
Profile of Tarabut Gateway
Founder: Abdulla Almoayed
Based: UAE
Founded: 2017
Number of employees: 35
Sector: FinTech
Raised: $13 million
Backers: Berlin-based venture capital company Target Global, Kingsway, CE Ventures, Entrée Capital, Zamil Investment Group, Global Ventures, Almoayed Technologies and Mad’a Investment.
PROFILE OF SWVL
Started: April 2017
Founders: Mostafa Kandil, Ahmed Sabbah and Mahmoud Nouh
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport
Size: 450 employees
Investment: approximately $80 million
Investors include: Dubai’s Beco Capital, US’s Endeavor Catalyst, China’s MSA, Egypt’s Sawari Ventures, Sweden’s Vostok New Ventures, Property Finder CEO Michael Lahyani
