Tottenham Hotspur didn't have a single player register 10 assists in the 2024/25 Premier League season, and only Brennan Johnson scored double-digit goals for the Europa League champions. Spurs were the most profoundly disappointing team in the Premier League last season, finishing 17th in a historically putrid campaign.
Needless to say, Tottenham are going to need to sign some difference-makers to bolster their sagging attack. Even if Son Heung-min bounces back next season at the age of 33, Spurs are going to need more star power to supplement veterans Son, James Maddison, and Dominic Solanke up top.
Lyon playmaker Rayan Cherki has become a dream target for Spurs in the attack, because he is exactly the kind of player they need. Cherki can create something out of nothing, he has immense skill, he's been productive for a historic team a top-five league for a few years now, and, most of all to Daniel Levy, he is ludicrously cheap with a laughable 22.5 million euro release clause.
Rayan Cherki is an elite club's top target
The problem for Tottenham is all the big boys in the Premier League are after Cherki, and it looks like Manchester City are ramping up their pursuit of the uber-talented Frenchman. According to a report from Fabrizio Romano, Man City have now made contacts to begin talks to sign Cherki, and he is one of their top two targets at the No. 10 position alongside Nottingham Forest star Morgan Gibbs-White.
Manchester City have endless resources financially and the most highly-regarded manager in world football in Pep Guardiola. They are also out for revenge after a poor, by their lofty standards, 2024/25 Premier League season. Guardiola usually gets who he wants, and Cherki has that extra quality the Citizens are looking for.
So if Tottenham don't move quickly, they could be left holding the bag yet again, missing out on another transformative young star. Spurs are in a tough spot since nobody quite knows who will be coaching them next season, but it's safe to say that any coach worth their salt would be over the moon about working with a 21-year-old left-footed wide playmaker coming off a season with 12 goals and 19 assists between the Premier League and Europa League.
There's no shame to losing out to Manchester City in the transfer market, but there's no glory in it either. And Spurs fans are tired of watching Daniel Levy and the club's board room constantly take the complacent approach with slam-dunk young stars on the market.