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By John Ogunsemore
Manchester City manager, Pep Guardiola has likened winger, Rayan Cherki to eight-time Ballon d’Or winner, Lionel Messi.
Guardiola spoke after Cherki’s impressive performance in City’s 3-0 win over Sunderland on Saturday.
The Frenchman provided a sensational assist for Phil Foden’s goal, as both players earned the highest player rating (8/10) in the encounter.
Guardiola said the 22-year-old Cherki reminded him of his former Barcelona ward Messi for his exceptional ability to execute simple, basic passes perfectly under pressure, Manchester Evening News reports.
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He said, “Rayan is an exceptional player, he is so young, he has a huge personality, he proved it against Fulham in the toughest moments. He had the ball at 5-4 and every time gave us an extra pass, he is not scared and has self-confidence.
“In the final third he has something special. What I admire the most about Rayan is not the skills. I never saw Messi play a cross like he has done. Messi is the best player to play the game but I never saw these kind of crosses.
“Crosses are fine, right or left or which part of your feet, it doesn’t matter. If it is effective it is fine but I like the simplicity because I learned from Messi that he never makes a mistake with the simple things. The simple things he does perfectly – then he dribbles past four or five players.
“I want players to do the simple things well and after that you have special talent and he can do whatever he wants but if he doesn’t work now it will be a problem.”
