Working with Pep Guardiola is extraordinary, says Rayan Cherki ahead of must-win Brentford clash

His rise has prompted widespread debate about the relationship between his free-spirited style and Guardiola’s typically structured demands, a debate Cherki’s latest comments appear to resolve decisively in his own mind.

Cherki: Pep has a vision very similar to mine

Cherki was expansive and enthusiastic when asked about what it is like to work under Guardiola on a daily basis.

“Working with Pep is extraordinary because he has a vision of football that is very similar to mine; always having the ball, always wanting to attack, always wanting to create chaos,” he said.

“So it’s really extraordinary to work with him. It’s about inventing, creating, doing things that nobody else sees or understands – that’s my philosophy.

The description of wanting to “create chaos” is a revealing one and entirely consistent with the way Cherki plays. It also suggests that rather than being a player Guardiola has had to adapt his system around, the two have found a genuine common ground built on shared instincts about what football should look like at its best.

The comments echo those Cherki has previously made, describing Guardiola as “crazy” in his love for football and said that “the football is him and him is the football”.

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Manchester City goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma has made similar observations, describing Guardiola’s effect on a team as something that “until you live it, you’ll never understand.” For Cherki, living it has clearly felt like coming home.

What does the relationship mean for City’s future?

Guardiola has been open about the areas where he wants more from Cherki, specifically his tendency to fade from games when City are winning comfortably.

But his broader verdict on the Frenchman has been consistently glowing, describing his talent as something that “cannot be taught” and declaring all his players as fitting his style when pushed on whether Cherki is a “typical Guardiola player.”

With Guardiola’s own future at the club still to be resolved before the end of May, the question of how many more seasons the two will spend together remains open. But on the evidence of this season and of Cherki’s words in Manchester, the partnership has been a natural one from day one.