Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas has confirmed that Manchester United and Real Madrid are interested in signing 16-year-old starlet Rayan Cherki.
The youngster has enjoyed a breakthrough campaign for the Ligue 1 outfit in 2019-20, making 12 appearances while scoring three goals and creating two more.
Even before he debuted for Lyon against Dijon last autumn, though, his talent had caused ripples across Europe and Aulas claims that two of the biggest clubs in the world were seeking to sign the 16-year-old prodigy.
A number of Europe’s biggest teams are thought to be keeping tabs on the attacking midfielder’s progress and, while Aulas revealed the interest of two of those, he insists that Lyon are not planning to sell the starlet any time soon.
“It’s clear that he’s going to be a player who’s going to make it to the top. That’s why we made a big effort to get him to sign with us,” Aulas told Telefoot.
“The two players interested when the player signed his contract were Real Madrid and Manchester United. We want him to triumph with us, we want to help him, and we want him to grow in a progressive way.
“Our aim is to have a leader in the attack for the next few years, if not a leader from our youth system.” Said Aulas.
Cherki signed his first professional deal with Lyon earlier this year and is contracted to the club until 2022.
Lyon face a summer of uncertainty, with Memphis Depay’s contract up next summer, while their only route into Europe next season is by winning the Champions League following a seventh placed finish in the aborted Ligue 1 campaign.
They hold a 1-0 advantage over Juventus after the first leg of their last-16 tie in the European competition.
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