In an interview with Europe 1 last May, Laurent Blanc said: "What interests me in football is young people, because let's not forget that we are lucky enough to have a very good youth system in France."

When Blanc returned to Ligue 1 Uber Eats coaching five months later, he could hardly have chosen a more youth-friendly club than Olympique Lyonnais. Not least because the club is home to a certain Rayan Cherki, the pride of the Lyon academy looking for a breakthrough into the senior team.

"He's a boy who has a lot of talent, everyone is practically unanimous on that," said Laurent Blanc of his young star. "He has a lot of talent, but it is necessary to use it well and use it for the good of the team. That wasn't always the case with Rayan and that led to some heated discussions with him."

'If he scores, we'll start taking him seriously'

As a result, the 19-year-old player seems to appreciate and says he is understood by his new coach. He is now playing a leading role and is starting to spread his game to different registers. Laurent Blanc has installed Rayan Cherki in the No.10 position, in support of the Alexandre Lacazette-Bradley Barcola duo, and he now has enough freedom to express his immense technical skills to the full.

This has doubtless played a key role in his current run of form. After scoring in the 3-1 Ligue 1 Uber Eats win over ESTAC last Saturday, his fourth consecutive league start, the rising star did it again in the Coupe de France last 16 win over LOSC - a strong indication that the youngster is stating to deliver on his oodles of potential.

Walk the walk

In the league, Cherki became the second youngest goal scorer in the club's history at 17 years and 258 days (behind Bernard Lacombe) when he scored his first goal against Monaco in May 2021, but his second goal came 31 games later under Laurent Blanc against Brest at the end of December.

"I hope that he understands that it is by being decisive that he will be considered among the kind of players he aspires to become. His game time will grow in accordance with his performances," said Laurent Blanc at the beginning of January.

And on Wednesday evening, after the cup win over LOSC, the Lyon boss doubled down, insisting that: "If you are not decisive, you are not considered. If Cherki scores goals, we'll start taking him seriously."

Dribbler, creator and now scorer

The mercurial forward's ability to create chances and dribble has been well established for some time. This season, no one has delivered more passes leading to a shot per game time than he has. With one every 17 minutes, the OL striker leads a top five list that is rounded out by Dimitri Payet, Rémy Cabella, Franck Honorat and Benjamin Bourigeaud. And since the resumption of Ligue 1 Uber Eats (R16) after the World Cup break, Rayan Cherki is even at the top of the overall rating for passes leading to a shot (30).

This has come thanks in large part to an increase in game time compared to the Bosz era.

"To go from five-minute cameos to being a starter once - and then again - and to feel the confidence of the coach is something very important," admitted Cherki. "It's something I've been waiting for for a long time and it gives me a lot of physical strength and confidence."

But his improvement is attributable to more than just game time. He is taking more shots on goal and is now in sixth place for attempted shots since the start of the season. With 21 attempts since R16, the Lyon man has transformed himself, as he had previously only shot nine times in 12 appearances. And this without losing his natural dribbling skills: he tops the charts for successful dribbles over the last seven rounds (15).

The Lens test

Unbeaten in three outings against teams in the lower reaches of the standings (two wins, one draw) - the side's best run since the first five matches of the season - OL have been showing some real improvement ahead of the Round 23 visit of Lens (third) on Sunday. The clash will be an opportunity to judge the progress of Lyon's playmaker, pitting him as it will against the tightest defence in Ligue 1 Uber Eats.

"Rayan has been able to put his talent to good use," said Blanc, who knows that consistency is king in making a great career. "Afterwards, he must do even better. With him, you can be very demanding, because he has great potential. And while it's all well and good to say, 'I want to play, I want to play', you have to be able to keep it up and play well one match after another."

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