Rayan Cherki: Football Manager wonderkid is now Lyon's tempestuous genius and the biggest threat to Man Utd's Europa League hopes - but could he be in the Premier League next season?

Cherki is one of those fascinating players who fans cannot take their eyes off but who managers don't actually like working with. He is Lyon's leading goal provider this season but found himself left out of the starting line-up for the last match against Lille, the seventh time he has been benched in Ligue 1 this season. Fortunately for him he did not spend long on the sidelines as Ernest Nuamah was forced off injured after only seven minutes.

Predictably, it was Cherki who proved to be the match-winner, teeing himself up for a volley inside the area. When the ball struck the net there was an outpouring of emotion from the 21-year-old, who did a knee-slide before rolling over, his expression exuding equal parts happiness, equal parts vindication.

Cherki first made a name for himself in that pandemic-affected season as a substitute, making history as Lyon's youngest scorer with an audacious chip from inside the area to complete a 7-0 rout of lower-league side Bourg Peronnas in the Coupe de France. He soon backed it up in his next cup tie but against a much-bigger opponent in Nantes, scoring twice and setting up two more in a 4-3 win.

His youth coach Jean-Baptiste Gregoire said at the time: "He is a boy who invents things all the time. He creates the unexpected and captivates the attention of everyone: team-mates, coaches, opponents, fans. But what impresses me the most is his passion for football, his determination and his mind to reach the highest level as fast as possible."

Gregoire must be the only coach to have worked with Cherki who was impressed with his mentality. Even back then there were questions about his attitude as well as his consistency. Cherki was angry about being left on the bench for a Ligue 1 game against Bordeaux and asked to return to the youth team in protest. His wish was granted but he was chastised for his performance in his next game. Even his father was dismayed, shouting at him on the sideline: "If you don't want to play, get off the pitch."

Cherki has played under six coaches in his time at Lyon and it is fair to say that none of them have been truly enamoured with him. Rudi Garcia, the man who gave him his debut, was the first one to warn him about getting too complacent. He said: "We all keep telling him that he will have the career he deserves if he continues to work. The danger is to make him believe that he is already one of the best players on the planet."

Garcia's successor, Peter Bosz, chose his words carefully when explaining why he repeatedly left him out of his line-up. "I know that Cherki is very popular, it's great for him and for the fans. I choose my players to win the match every week. If I see that we can win with Rayan he will start, otherwise it will be another player."

Laurent Blanc revealed he had "some heated discussions" with Cherki over his tendency to play for himself rather than the collective while Fabio Grosso was the most critical. "He's a player; he's not a special player," the Italian said during his short-lived and disastrous spell in charge of Lyon. "He's a player like any other, albeit with some additional qualities. But it’s not just technical qualities that matter; there are mental and athletic qualities as well. He possesses enormous technical abilities, but he needs to work on the others."

Grosso was sacked by Lyon after seven games, leaving them bottom of the table and in serious danger of relegation. Successor, Pierre Sage, led them out of trouble but it was telling that he scarcely picked Cherki early on in his tenure and no one complained as he presided over a dramatic revival, taking them from the foot of the table to sixth. A contract stand-off then ensued last summer, leading to Cherki being left out of the squad for the first few games of the season.

When he was eventually reintegrated into the squad after agreeing a one-year extension, he made a typically dramatic return, coming off the bench against Marseille and scoring a last-gasp equaliser a few minutes later only for his side to concede a winner later on.

It was the start of his resurgence though as he scored five goals and contributed seven assists between September and December. Despite their differences, Cherki paid Sage an emotional tribute when he was sacked in January. "He leaves behind an exceptional legacy. When you see where he took the club and where he left it, he has earned everyone’s respect. Very few coaches in the world, and even in the history of football, can claim to have accomplished what he has done."

Cherki has also tried to endear himself to his latest coach, Paulo Fonseca, who made global headlines for furiously confronting a referee in a match against Brest - only his fifth Ligue 1 game - earning a nine-month touchline ban in domestic matches. In their next match, in the Europa League against FCSB, Lyon's players swarmed an emotional Fonseca in a show of unity. Cherki articulated the squad's feelings for the coach when he said: "We really have a very good relationship with the coach. It affected us when we saw his suspension. We were a little in a feeling of injustice before the match, we wanted to give everything for him."

It was perhaps a sign of Cherki's growing maturity. He has taken on new responsibility in the team and is playing the best football of his life under Fonseca, finally adding consistency to the raw talent he has always demonstrated. In his last 11 games he has provided 10 assists while scoring four goals.

And there is a widespread feeling that he is playing his final few weeks at his boyhood club and will be on the move in the summer. Former Lyon president, Jean-Michel Aulas, urged the forward to "become a leader as soon as possible" while adding "he needs to move to the club where he dreams of playing". And in very lofty praise, he even claimed: "Cherki can be compared to Messi in terms of technical ability."

Despite being a local boy, Cherki has never hidden his ambition to play away from Lyon, telling the club's media that his dream was to play for Real Madrid. Within the club there is also a desire, or to put it more bluntly, an urgent need, for him to be sold to help ease the club's financial crisis.

Last year the club reported a debt of €505 million (£431m/$550m), leading to them being provisionally relegated at the end of the season due to financial mismanagement. They were banned from signing players in the January transfer window and will drop into Ligue 2 unless they can show improved financial health by the end of the season.

Finishing in the top four and qualifying for the Champions League would help their cause, as would winning the Europa League, which would provide them with a ticket into Europe's top competition if they finish outside the top four domestically. But sales are needed and Cherki is one of their most lucrative assets. Lyon's best chance of extracting maximum value is by selling him to a Premier League club.

That was believed to be close to happening in January 2024 when Chelsea were heavily linked with him. Fulham also had a look last summer amid the contract stand-off. Borussia Dortmund expressed interest in January but the move broke down and it has later been revealed that Lyon co-owner John Textor told representatives from the Bundesliga club to "f**k off" while referring to Cherki as "a little asshole".

Liverpool were also mentioned as potential suitors but never made serious steps towards a deal, while Tottenham have also been cited as interested in him. Cherki will be available again in the summer, when he will have just one year left on his contract, which reportedly contains a release clause of £25m ($32m). Given his current form and talent ceiling that would represent an absolute steal, as long as clubs are prepared to take the risk with his volcanic personality. Or indeed to endure the pain of negotiating with Textor.

And speaking of financially troubled clubs, Cherki's next opponents United could certainly do with the Frenchman's creative spark. Amorim was left cursing United's feeble firepower after the recent goal-less Manchester derby, remarking: "Always the same problem, lack of goals."

Cherki certainly has the confidence to play for United and on his current form would be a big upgrade on the erratic Alejandro Garnacho and the goal-shy Rasmus Hojlund. His low transfer fee would also be appealing to cost-cutting co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe. He is certainly worth considering, and there is no doubt that fans would fall for his daring display of skill and his love for entertaining crowds. Just take how he describes himself. "I want to enjoy myself on the pitch, give pleasure to others and bring back a bit of the football I used to play as a child. I like to dribble and play with joy."

But first, there is the small matter of a Europa League quarter-final between two gigantic clubs who have fallen on hard times and desperately need that backdoor entrance to the Champions League. No wonder Cherki has described it as a war. And he will be Lyon's most lethal weapon.