How this cheeky soccer maverick has shaken up the Premier League title race

MANCHESTER, England (AP) — The destination of the Premier League title could be determined by the blockbuster, high-pressure showdown between Manchester City and Arsenal on Sunday. There will be one player treating it like a preseason exhibition. Keep your eyes trained on Rayan Cherki, City’s throwback maverick who is an antidote to the overly structured, set piece-heavy, tactically suffocating juggernaut that is the modern-day Premier League. The France playmaker is rapidly turning into a revelation in his debut season in English soccer — and a key cog in City’s late-season sprint to the title that will be supercharged with a win over the increasingly fragile league leader at Etihad Stadium this weekend. Until the last few weeks, Cherki’s highlight reel was topped by an assist for Phil Foden with an outrageous rabona cross during a league win over Sunderland in December. Recently, though, his showboating has gone to new levels. Like his mid-match keepy-uppies during the win over Arsenal in the English League Cup final at Wembley Stadium last month. Like when, after a brilliant display in an FA Cup thrashing of Liverpool in early April, he swapped shirts with Liverpool striker Hugo Ekitike and briefly sat among City’s substitutes wearing an opponent’s uniform in the final minutes of the game. And like on Sunday, when he was seen flipping a water bottle onto the painted touchline during an injury delay in the 3-0 win at Chelsea while other City players were getting tactical instructions from manager Pep Guardiola. This, it seems, is not Cherki being disrespectful. It’s just him. And for Guardiola — soccer’s ultimate serial trophy winner — it has taken some getting used to. “One of the most unbelievably talented players I’ve ever seen,” is Guardiola’s description of the 22-year-old Cherki, who came from Lyon in June for a fee of 36 million euros (then $41 million) that, now, feels like a bargain. Yet, Guardiola often cannot hide his displeasure with some of Cherki’s antics. After that rabona assist, the City manager urged Cherki to play with the kind of simplicity shown by Lionel Messi, who Guardiola helped to turn into the world’s greatest player. On seeing Cherki performing his juggling routine of kick-ups in the League Cup final, Guardiola stood with his arms outstretched and shook his head, clearly unhappy. Guardiola constantly demands more of Cherki, imploring him to stay closer to sole striker Erling Haaland rather than roaming the field or dropping too deep in search of the ball. But nearly a full season into Cherki’s time at City, Guardiola cannot help but be impressed with his displays and the numbers he is putting up, all of which has finally turned him into a regular starter for his club and might even get him into France's starting lineup at the in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Setting up two goals against Chelsea last weekend took Cherki — who is equally as strong with his left and right feet — to nine open-play assists in the league, more than any other player. And he has injected a to City’s build-up play that had been lacking until recently. Indeed, Cherki is looking more and more like the ideal replacement for departed great Kevin De Bruyne, even if they are very different players. De Bruyne was a favorite with fans at City, his range of passing regularly bringing out “oohs” and “aahs” during games. Cherki’s off-the-cuff trickery does the same. And he has a cheeky, lovable character that entices you in further. Guardiola, for example, could only laugh after being shoved hard in the back at the fulltime whistle of the League Cup final and turning round to see the naughty push was from Cherki as he ran onto the field to celebrate. “In the difficult moments and under pressure, he acts like it’s a friendly game. That it doesn’t matter,” Guardiola said. “And that’s so difficult to find.”