Crystal Palace boss Pierre Sage has offered an extraordinary assessment of Rayan Cherki ahead of Friday night’s Premier League meeting with City.
Sage faces the rather less enjoyable task of trying to contain the Frenchman when Palace welcome City to Selhurst Park.
And judging by his description of Cherki, he knows exactly what his side are up against.
“I don’t know the word for higher than a genius,” Sage said, via GOAL.
“I am not a genius; he is a genius.
“To speak about something and to teach something is one step. But to do these things is another step. He is at this level. Maybe God?”
Sage knows all about Cherki’s quality…
The final remark was delivered with a smile, but there was no mistaking Sage’s admiration for his compatriot.
His wider point was an interesting one.
Coaches can explain what they want a player to do and plenty of footballers can understand those instructions. Actually possessing the ability to produce something exceptional when the ball arrives is rather different.
For Sage, Cherki operates at that level.
City supporters have already seen enough of the Frenchman’s imagination and technical ability to understand why an opposition manager might be wary of him.
There is still something unusual about hearing a manager describe a player he is about to face as a “genius” before briefly wondering whether even that description goes far enough.
Sage has done the praising.
On Friday night, he has to work out how to stop him.
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