Man City plan for Rayan Cherki and Tijjani Reijnders after midfield changes

Manchester City signed two new midfielders this summer in Tijjani Reijnders and Rayan Cherki and Hugo Viana has spoken about their development.

Hugo Viana has called for patience with Manchester City new boy Rayan Cherki and said this season would be a learning curve for the summer signing as he adapts to the Premier League.

The 21-year-old was arguably the most exciting summer addition for the Blues, joining from Lyon for £34million and then producing a thrilling and eye-catching cameo on his France debut against Germany.

Cherki scored 12 goals and registered 20 assists in 44 games for Lyon in what was a breakthrough campaign last term. He has already had some impressive moments in a City shirt, scoring in the Club World Cup and on his Premier League debut against Wolves.

But he struggled when in from the start against Tottenham a week later and is now set to be sidelined for a couple of months with a thigh injury. Even when he returns, director of football Viana stressed that there was plenty for the attacking midfielder to still work on.

"Cherki is young, he is a really good talent," he said. "He has to improve, and he will improve for sure. He comes from France, from Lyon and it’s not the same to play for Manchester City in the Premier League, which is really demanding.

"This season will be really important for his development but he’s young and we really look positively in his development for the next years.”

Cherki was one of the two midfield arrivals this summer, with Tijjani Reijnders signing from AC Milan for £46million. The 27-year-old Dutchman has hit the ground running after an impressive campaign in Serie A.

Reijnders has played every minute of City's four Premier League fixtures so far and Viana expects him to be a key figure as Pep Guardiola tries to move on from the likes of Ilkay Gundogan and Kevin De Bruyne in the Blues' engine room.

“I think Tijjani is the type of midfielder that every team would like to have," said Viana. "He is a top worker, really committed and he has goals and last season with Milan he was unbelievable.

"We knew from the beginning he was our first target. Manchester City in the past have had great midfielders like Gundo and Kevin. They were doing really well but unfortunately, they left but they are still club legends, and it is not easy to replace them, but I think Tijjani will be a really important player for the club for the next years."

City's summer business also included a new left-back, Rayan Ait-Nouri, who arrived from Wolves for £31million. Viana and former director of football Txiki Begiristain had been scouring the market for a left-back since January and landed on Ait-Nouri because his skillset suited Guardiola's approach.

“It was a position we were looking for since January and, after many conversations, we decided Ait-Nouri was the right player to bring because Pep like players to go outside and go inside and his technical skills are really, really good," said Viana.

"Like I said with the goalkeepers, he is young and he has a lot of- Premier League experience, so we are really happy with him also.”

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