Man Utd have made an offer for Lyon playmaker Rayan Cherki amid interest from Premier League rivals Liverpool and Chelsea, according to reports.
The Red Devils have been awful this season with their 4-1 loss to Newcastle on Sunday seeing them drop to 14th in the Premier League table.
Ruben Amorim’s side are now guaranteed to be the worst Man Utd team in Premier League history after the result against the Magpies means they can only reach a maximum of 56 points this season, two points lower than the 2021/22 campaign in which Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was sacked and interim boss Ralf Rangnick recommended “open-heart surgery”.
And Man Utd are keen to avoid a repeat season next term by signing a number of new players in the summer with the Old Trafford board reportedly giving the green light to an overhaul of the squad.
The deep clean of the squad could take a while with reports suggesting that Man Utd must sell a number of players before they can bring all of their top targets to the club.
But they have gone early with their interest in Lyon playmaker Cherki – who has contributed 11 goals and 17 assists in 36 matches in all competitions this term – with a report in the Daily Mirror claiming that Man Utd have made a €23m ‘offer’ for the Frenchman.
Reacting to the news, a report in France has claimed that the bid is ‘shameful’ and ‘far from the €30m minimum demanded by Olympique Lyonnais management’ for the Liverpool and Chelsea target.
The report adds:
‘If Manchester United truly wants to secure Rayan Cherki’s services, they’ll have to offer a lot more. Especially since competition for the contract is likely to be fierce after his epic season. As a reminder, other major European teams are also in the running, notably Liverpool, the Mancunians’ great historical rival.’
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L’Equipe journalist Nabil Djellit has been waxing lyrical about Cherki recently with the France Under-21 international becoming the “best player” in Ligue 1 since becoming the focal point of their attack.
Djellit said: “After the winter transfer window, Lyon refocused their game around Cherki, who for me is the best player in the French Championship at the end of the season, outside of Paris Saint-Germain.
“You can look at it any way you like, I see Cherki doing things that I don’t see in other players. Something is happening around Rayan Cherki, at OL, you can see that they get along well, that the players are looking for each other. They are happy to play together and they are looking for each other.”
