Like a conveyor belt, Lyon’s academy churns out talent after talent on a yearly basis, with a number of them ending in the Premier League.
Alexandre Lacazette, Anthony Martial, Clinton N’Jie, Hatem Ben Arfa and Rachid Ghezzal are some of the more prominent and recent names to have played in England after coming through the ranks at the Ligue 1 side, and it appears Chelsea, back in 2015, were trying to get ahead of the curve.
Gazzetta dello Sport are the ones reminding everyone, publishing a small article on the latest prodigy to make his first steps in professional football with Lyon: Rayan Cherki.
The 16-year-old has made six appearances in the league under Rudi Garcia, but it’s in the Coupe de France the youngster has had the most impact, scoring two goals and assisting another two in a 4-3 win against Nantes back in mid-January.
This precocious talent had apparently caught the eyes of Chelsea back in 2015-16, as Gazzetta explain the player was ‘one step away’ from moving to Stamford Bridge, but eventually decided to stay at Lyon to continue his development in France.
We decided to go looking back through the internet archives, and it appears But! Football Club, back in 2015, reported that Cherki had travelled to London to hold a trial with the Blues at the age of 12 with Lyon’s knowledge.
History shows nothing came from the trip, as the forward remains a Lyon player to this day, but Chelsea fans will be glad to know their club were at least on the ball.
They might be less pleased, however, at the fact they had him right there yet let him slip through their fingers.
