Zinedine Zidane was both an incredible footballer and manager for Real Madrid, but what a lot of people outside the Madrid bubble may not remember is how brilliant of a scout he was for the club. Zizou identified so many great players years before most people had ever heard of them, and while some of them, like Eduardo Camavinga and Raphael Varane, did land at Real Madrid (and eventually Eden Hazard 10 years later), there are many others who never got their big moves to the Santiago Bernabeu.
The most prominent recent example is now Rayan Cherki of Manchester City. All the way back in the 2019/20 season, Cherki was the second obsession of Zidane from French football after, obviously, PSG's Kylian Mbappe, who had always been the ultimate dream target of the club. Along with Camavinga, these three were seen by many in France as the future of football, and Zidane was smitten with all of them, putting Cherki on a pedestal as a generational.
Because of COVID-19, Real Madrid did not make any signings in 2020. Then in 2021 and 2022, they were trying to save all of their money for Mbappe, so the only significant addition they made was Camavinga in 2022. Real Madrid had Rodrygo Goes breaking out alongside Karim Benzema and Vinicius Junior, and then when they knew Mbappe would be on the way, they stopped following up with Cherki - and had already also brought in Jude Bellingham, Arda Guler, and Brahim Diaz by then.
Rayan Cherki has that clutch factor
All the while, Cherki was slowly building up his reputation in Lyon. The Ligue 1 powers knew they had a tremendous footballer on their hands, but rather than selling too early or risking injury by playing him too quickly, they let him slowly bubble up. But due to their own financial indiscretions and organizational incompetence, they were forced to let him go to Manchester City for very little this past summer transfer window.
And now, Cherki is lighting up the Premier League with insane dribbling skills, a coolness factor, delicious assists from the wings, and rabonas that would make Angel Di Maria's head spin. Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola sometimes groans at the antics, but in his latest remarks on his new superstar at the Etihad, even he could not stop gushing about the young man's quality and mentality.
Guardiola said of Rayan Cherki, via Fabrizio Romano, “Rayan has an attribute that is difficult to find: in difficult moments, a lot, a lot of pressure, it’s like a friendly game for him, it doesn't matter! That is so difficult to find. It’s the biggest attribute I would like to find in a player”.
Those are, in fact, the kinds of players Real Madrid covet the most. They always want the game breakers who can change matches in an instant, do that consistently across a season, and show no fear in the biggest moments. That is what has made Jude Bellingham, Fede Valverde, Vinicius Junior, Thibaut Courtois, and so many others become pillars of the club.
Cherki is the one who got away. Zinedine Zidane had scouted him six or seven years ago for Real Madrid, and they just never followed through. Now, a Champions League rival is benefiting, while Los Blancos are still trying to figure out how to balance this team with Kylian Mbappe.