Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes has offered a strong public endorsement of Manchester City midfielder Rayan Cherki, warning that stifling the young Frenchman’s natural instincts would cost the Premier League one of its most watchable talents.
Speaking to Gary Neville in a wide-ranging interview for Sky Sports, Fernandes was direct in his assessment of what makes Cherki valuable to English football. “For the Premier League to become better, you need players like him to do different things, to be a player that you go to the stadium, he’s made a pass, and everyone goes ‘ooooh’,” the United captain said.
Cherki, who joined Manchester City from Lyon, has quickly emerged as one of the division’s standout performers. Despite being named in the starting eleven on only 17 occasions this season, the 22-year-old sits joint-second in the Premier League assist charts with 10 — a return that underlines the high-impact, high-risk nature of his game.
While certain sections of the punditry have raised concerns about his efficiency on the ball, Fernandes pushed back firmly against that line of criticism, framing Cherki’s unpredictability as an asset rather than a liability. “If Cherki stops with the things that he’s very good at, like skills, and going at players, having fun with the ball… we’re gonna lose Cherki. The Premier League is not gonna have Cherki playing his best football,” Fernandes told Sky Sports.
The Portuguese midfielder acknowledged that he finds himself genuinely engaged whenever Cherki is on the ball, and used the opportunity to reflect on a broader shift in the game. “In the past, you had many players like this; now you’re having less and less because the managers want to be more careful,” he added, lamenting what he sees as a declining presence of so-called “maverick” players capable of generating genuine excitement in the stands.
Cherki’s rise in English football has not gone unnoticed beyond Old Trafford. The former Lyon academy product has drawn comparisons to some of Europe’s elite young talents, with debate emerging in recent weeks over how his profile stacks up against Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal. His assist tally is particularly notable given his limited starts, suggesting a level of influence per 90 minutes that places him among the league’s most creative operators this season.
Fernandes himself has been at the centre of significant Manchester United news this season, having previously spoken publicly about his commitment to the club. His comments on Cherki, however, reflect a broader perspective on what the Premier League stands to gain — or lose — depending on how clubs and coaches handle players of that profile.
With the 2025-26 Premier League season entering its final stages, Cherki’s performances for Manchester City could yet play a decisive role in the title race, adding further weight to Fernandes’ argument that the league is a richer spectacle for having him in it.
