Liverpool have their own Rayan Cherki and it's NOT Florian Wirtz

Outside of Liverpool, there have been a lot of headlines on Manchester City star Rayan Cherki.

The Frenchman has lit up the Premier League since he joined in the summer, and now that Pep Guardiola's team has started to click together, it's clear that they're going to be a major threat.

On Saturday afternoon, a 2-1 win for the Citizens was masterminded by Cherki and it's now undeniable that the decision to not sign Lyon's former No. 10 was a huge transfer mistake.

In just 924 minutes this season, the 22-year-old has registered five goals and eight assists.

The immediate comparison for the Blue attacker is Florian Wirtz, who cost nearly four times as much to sign in the summer. In reality, however, the better comparison should be with a different Red who cost three times less than Cherki and has a similar record of attacking output in the campaign.

Chiesa can be Liverpool's version of Cherki

Both the Italian and the Frenchman spend a lot of their time on the right-side of the pitch and even though Federico Chiesa was signed in 2024, it feels like both players are still adjusting to their teams.

Cherki's 13 goal contributions have come from averaging 49 minutes per appearance; Chiesa's five goals and assists in 431 minutes have come from just 25 minutes per game. Neither have really had confidence instilled in them from their managers, and yet their cases to play more often are clear.

Most recently, the Frenchman has really started to find his feet, starting six of City's last seven games which came against Fulham, Sunderland, Real Madrid, Crystal Palace, Brentford, West Ham and Nottingham Forest, delivering two goals and four assists, amidst outstanding efforts that didn't get rewarded with a goal contribution. Guardiola's team has been all the better for his run of form.

So what does that tell us? Chiesa's relationship with Slot appears on the face of it to be broken, with the Italian having been awarded just two starts all season, even though he's kept himself injury-free.

Later on Saturday, when the Reds played at Anfield against Wolves, we got the opportunity to see Chiesa get his third start of the season - a move that Slot was likely forced into given Mo Salah's absence, Alexander Isak's injury and Cody Gakpo's fragile state after coming back from an injury.

One can only hope that the performances of Cherki, that are almost impossible to ignore regardless of which team you're affiliated with, can provide an irrefutable example of what can happen if you back a player to succeed. If Chiesa gets a run in the side, who knows what he could be capable of.

The 431 minute sample we have to look back on already shows a player performing at an absurd level, getting a goal or an assist per 90 minutes played. Why not make better use of an asset like that?

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