Exclusive: All Lyon players for sale, but Rayan Cherki transfer situation complicated – expert

Almost all of Lyon’s players are up for sale this summer, but Rayan Cherki’s transfer situation remains complicated, according to French football expert Jonathan Johnson.

Speaking exclusively to CaughtOffside In his latest column for the Daily Briefing, Johnson explained that Cherki is currently training separately from the rest of Lyon’s squad, despite potential moves to clubs such as Fulham and Borussia Dortmund having fallen through.

According to Johnson, Cherki is facing certain issues that make it difficult to reach personal terms with other clubs, and it may also continue to be difficult for the Frenchman to find interested parties.

That could mean Lyon keep Cherki and a difficult reconciliation has to take place. But the Ligue 1 club also needs to sell before Deadline Day so that Cherki and others are all available for the right price.

Cherki’s transfer situation explained after failed attempts to transfer Fulham and Dortmund

“Rayan Cherki’s story has been complicated for much of the summer and it still appears so now that we are approaching the end of the transfer window. Cherki is now training away from the rest of the Lyon squad, with OL actively trying to move him,” Johnson said.

“Fulham were one of the most recent suitors, while you also had Borussia Dortmund, but those ties have fallen away. As I said before, the big question about Cherki has never been his talent, it’s more his personality, his character and his application.

“This has put off many suitors so far and it could put off future suitors too. There could be an awkward point in his relationship with Lyon where they may need to bring him back into the fold, especially if he doesn’t make a move in this window and they need to work on re-raising his value.

“Lyon have made some pretty big promised sales to the DNCG, the financial watchdog for French football. They went over budget before and that promise included some pretty big sales, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re pretty busy trying to get players out between now and the end of the transfer window because they haven’t come close to that yet. Basically every player in that squad is available for the right price at the moment.

More stories / Latest news

“Of course some of those players will be more attractive than others, but it is a situation where clubs who have more than a passing interest in a player can get a fairly reasonable deal for themselves. Cherki is one of those who continues to attract links, but one of the stumbling blocks is personal terms, as it seems that trying to build a good working relationship with prospective managers and coaches is a complicating factor.

“As it stands, it looks like Cherki will be stuck at Lyon unless a late deal comes through, but given the number of deals that have already collapsed, I think the likelihood is that there will have to be some kind of uneasy reconciliation and attempt to move forward together between Lyon and Cherki, which could then potentially put him in the shop window between now and January. Still, I expect Lyon to be busy before the deadline, so let’s see what happens in the coming days.”