Journo: Chelsea end interest in 21-year-old due to his ‘attitude’

Journalist Nathan Gissing reveals Chelsea have pulled out from race to sign Rayan Cherki

Transfer journalist Nathan Gissing has confirmed Chelsea have completely ended their pursuit of Rayan Cherki as they have doubts over his attitude.

The Blues have concerns about the 21-year-old’s attitude, as Mauricio Pochettino wants to maintain a healthy atmosphere between players and in the dressing room. Earlier, the Blues were keen on signing the French star but are now uninterested and could focus on signing other attacking midfielders.

Cherki was seen as a potential replacement for Mason Mount, who joined Manchester United in the summer window. Besides, Mount Chelsea also offloaded the likes of Kai Havertz and Mateo Kovacic, leaving a big void in midfield.

It was understood that Chelsea accelerated their pursuit of Cherki as they held discussions with his entourage, and the Blues also sent scouts to assess his progress.

Despite being just 19 years old, Cherki was among the most important players for Lyon last season and featured 34 times for them. His ability is beyond his age but perhaps his attitude isn’t to Chelsea’s liking.

Chelsea will now look elsewhere, as Gissing has now updated on West London’s pursuit of the 19-year-old. He (h/t Football.London) told The Byline:

“I’m told Chelsea aren’t the biggest fans of his [Cherki’s] attitude.”

If this is the situation, we would have had no choice but to withdraw from his signing. We don’t want players who could have a bad influence on the locker room and other players or undermine the manager’s authority.

However, there isn’t a lot of clarity provided about what the attitude issue pertains to. It could be his outlook towards training, his demands or his punctuality — or all of them, or none of them. It won’t be fair to pass a judgement without knowing the whole picture.

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We’ll have to wait and see who Chelsea pursue because they are also interested in signing Michael Olise and Mohammed Kudus, who can both be fantastic acquisitions. This is a position that we have to strengthen, especially after bravely selling Mount to Manchester United.