Corentin Tolisso ahead of Manchester United-Lyon: ‘I hope they’ll hate Rayan Cherki even more after the match.’ | OneFootball

Rayan Cherki (21) got a late leveller last Thursday, allowing Olympique Lyonnais to head to Old Trafford for the second leg of their UEFA Europa League encounter against Manchester United with the scores level (2-2). As he joked in Wednesday’s pre-match press conference, Corentin Tolisso is hoping that the young playmaker can do more damage later today at Old Trafford.

Tolisso joked that English journalists had not been watching Cherki in recent months, despite his startling form both in Ligue 1 and in the Europa League. “If they discovered Rayan last week, it means that they haven’t been watching too much football in recent months,” said the former Bayern Munich midfielder.

Cherki is having by far the best season of his young career in what could be his final season at formative club Lyon.  The France youth international has netted 11 goals and registered 18 assists in 38 games in all appearances this season, leading to calls for him to be handed a first call-up to the senior side by Didier Deschamps.

His performances have also earned high praise from Paulo Fonseca. “I have been at some big clubs and I have rarely seen this kind of player. Rayan is a talent. Sometimes, in the middle of a session, I ask myself: ‘How does he see these things?’,” he told L’Équipe.

Tolisso, meanwhile, is hoping that his teammate will inflict more damage at Old Trafford. “Rayan has been doing things that have been going around social media for a while. I hope that, after this match, they will know Rayan even better and that they will hate him even more!”

GFFN | Luke Entwistle  – reporting from Old Trafford