Manchester City midfielder Rayan Cherki has returned from injury early after picking up a thigh problem which was expected to keep him out for around two months.
The French international suffered the problem after City's defeat to Spurs on August 23rd and wasn't expected back until late October.
But according to several reports Cherki seems set to be available for selection by the Brentford game next weekend at the latest, with Monaco next Wednesday being a possibility.
BREAKING: Rayan Cherki's muscular injury has now healed and the midfielder could re-join the #ManCity matchday squad as early as next week against either AS Monaco or Brentford.
— City Xtra (@City_Xtra) September 25, 2025
[via @Tanziloic]
What this means for City
After letting Claudio Echeverri go out on loan, Guardiola is left with Phil Foden and Rayan Cherki as the only real creative midfielders in the team and so Foden has been the only available option for the past month.
Cherki can play as both a right winger or attacking midfielder and will provide competition for Bernardo Silva, Oscar Bobb, Savinho and the aforementioned Phil Foden.
His ability to play a few different roles in this side means his return will be a big bonus for Pep Guardiola who has mentioned that injuries to players such as the Frenchman haven't allowed him to rotate as he would like to.
Omar Marmoush and Rayan Ait-Nouri remain sidelined, with Cherki and also the returning Mateo Kovacic seemingly available for selection.
We're delighted to announce the signing of Rayan Cherki ✍️🩵
— Manchester City (@ManCity) June 10, 2025
A quick start
Rayan Cherki made a very fast start to life at Manchester City in the Premier League as he came off the bench in the opening game of the season and scored the fourth in a 4-0 away win over Wolves.
He impressed in his cameo and was rewarded with his first start against Tottenham but struggled to get into the game, a game in which no City player really turned up and they fell to a 2-0 defeat at home.
The Frenchman did also feature for City in the inaugural expanded Club World Cup and he scored one and provided an assist for Phil Foden in the 120 minutes of action he got in that competition.
But after impressing in that competition and at the start of the Premier League he picked up a thigh injury which has meant he has missed the past five games in all competitions.
However, City are seemingly set to receive an unlikely boost with him coming back earlier than expected and so may only miss one more game which is a home game on Saturday against newly promoted Burnley.
Does Cherki come back into the team?
Pep Guardiola named an unchanged team for three successive games for the first time in four years when City faced Manchester United, Napoli and Arsenal in the space of seven days.
So although Pep seems happy with an XI, Cherki could still be expected to come back into the side and add some more creativity and goals to the side which relies a lot on Erling Haaland to score them.
If Cherki was to come back into the side he would likely replace Bernardo Silva on the right hand side to allow him to interchange with Phil Foden.
Projected XI
Goalkeeper: Gianluigi Donnarumma
Defence: Matheus Nunes, Ruben Dias, Josko Gvardiol, Nico O'Reilly
Defensive Midfield: Rodri
Central Midfield: Phil Foden, Tijjani Reijnders
Wingers: Rayan Cherki, Jeremy Doku
Striker: Erling Haaland
