Pep Guardiola gave Rayan Cherki the benefit of the doubt after his tame Manchester City debut in the Club World Cup.
Cherki completed his move to the Etihad earlier this month for a reported fee of £34million after a thrilling campaign in France with Lyon.
He played for the first time in City blue on Wednesday evening against Moroccan outfit Wydad Casablanca in the revamped tournament taking place across the US this month.
Phil Foden opened the scoring in the opening minutes with Cherki starting the game in Philadelphia.
’The opening half largely passed the Frenchman by, however, struggling to impose himself while occupying the no8 position ahead of fellow summer signing Tijjani Reijnders.
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Tasked with feeding Savinho, Jeremie Doku and Omar Marmoush in the City attack, Cherki struggled to find space to work his magic, pressed into errors by the opposition.
The France international managed just 22 touches of the ball during his time on the pitch, losing it 10 times – more than any other City player – before he was replaced by Erling Haaland on the hour mark.
Cherki announced himself in style this week by vowing to ‘kill’ Manchester United when City and their neighbours collide in the new Premier League season – with his meek debut mocked by rival supporters on social media.
‘Cherki you should be embarrassed with this performance,’ one fan wrote with another who was left unimpressed commenting: ‘Cherki stinker and wrecked after 60 minutes on his debut.’
One more sympathetic observer noted: ‘Cherki just overdoing it tbh which is v common for a debut. It’ll come.’
Cherki, and fellow new arrival Reijnders, will both be tasked with filling the void left by Kevin de Bruyne who has signed for Napoli after a decade in Manchester.’
Speaking after the match, Guardiola admitted de Bruyne will be ‘difficult to replace’ but pointed out Cherki’s qualities despite failing to catch the eye ‘in very tough conditions’ on his debut.
‘Of course, Kevin is difficult to replace, we know that,’ Guardiola said in his post-match press conference.
‘For the quality that he has, there is no doubt about that. But at the same time, the club decided on Rayan, he has incredible skills close to the box, an incredible vision and pass, he has many, many things.
‘[Today] was just the first game in very tough conditions but I am really pleased that he is here.’
Guardiola added in an interview with DAZN: ‘Tijjani [Reijnders] played very well, Rayan [Cherki] had good moments. Everyone has to get to know us and see what happens.’
