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TTLB Opinion: How Ligue 1 ace adds a new dimension to Ange Postecoglou’s system at Tottenham Hotspur

Originally posted on To The Lane And Back
By Jainil Shah | Last updated May 17, 2025 2:12 PM ET

With the summer window around the corner, Daniel Levy is already eyeing players who can walk into the current roster at Hotspur away and raise its ceiling, and while many players have been considered, the name of Lyon midfield maestro Rayan Cherki has gained a lot of traction among the rumour mills lately. And this is one of those transfers that does fit into the Lilywhites’ transfer policy of signing them young and developing them through the corridors within N17, but when I started exploring the Frenchman and his abilities, I realised this transfer adds a lot to the current side. Wait, let me explain…

See, the evolution of the North Londoners under Ange Postecoglou has been laying on a few pillars, and some of them are catered around positional rotations and having automated patterns (especially when the ball is either out wide or in pockets), but then if you start looking within that structure, the Lilywhites still lack something important — an uncoachable spark who has the capacity to get on top of games (and no, I am not talking about your James Maddisons; I am talking about a level perhaps two above) someone who can tear a game open outside the tactical playbook. And this is where Rayan Cherki comes on to the scene.

While he is only twenty-one (21) and still relatively young, he already has that capacity to operate in the final third with imaginative link-ups, body control, and that positional fluidity which the current system that Ange Postecoglou has deployed at N17 really craves. And he can add a lot of variability (in terms of play) on this side, especially against low blocks and teams playing those stubborn hybrids of low-mid blocks (we have seen Ange’s side struggle against both this season).

And if the Lilywhites do end up signing him in the summer window, it will not be just an investment for the future – Daniel Levy will be bringing a player who thrives in system chaos.

But how does he fit into the current system that Ange has deployed at Tottenham?

If you were to ask me, I’d summarise that Cherki is best used when he is deployed in a free-roaming creative midfield role, but he is someone who is quite adaptable, and that makes him extremely usable under Postecoglou. He can play multiple roles in the current setup at Tottenham; you can use the Frenchman in a right-sided #8 role (more of an inside playmaker), which is much similar to how Ange used Dejan Kulusevski centrally earlier this season. He can drop between lines to receive, turn, and slide into pockets while opening up opportunities to link with the full-back (Porro) and right winger (Johnson/Kulusevski).

But that’s just not it; he has the capacity to glide into tight zones and bring that numerical superiority.

You can also use Cherki as a wide right winger who starts on the flank (touching the touchline) but constantly drifts inward, and there he can rotate zones with the attacking #8. The Frenchman works splendidly in games where you dominate possession (and in a way that is exactly where Tottenham have struggled under Ange this season with how they cannot break down deep setups), and here Cherki has the capacity to disrupt shape with his passes and movements.

Postecoglou wants his players to respect structure until the final third — where individuality and risk are encouraged. Cherki fits this profile perfectly: play within the lanes in buildup, but be free once he enters the box zones.

Author Opinion

Rayan Cherki is not your finished product, but that’s the point, innit? – Tottenham don’t need another completed product; what the Lilywhites need is a player who grows into something Levy can’t currently buy, and for a price range of £15–20 million, the Frenchman is a type of talent that Levy has to be bold enough to trust.

In Ange’s system, Cherki has the capacity to become a tempo-shifter on the creative end of things, and this is something that Tottenham have lacked since Eriksen (Cherki adds that with more flair and verticality).

Levy doesn’t need to sign Cherki, so he takes up every creative aspect of responsibility there is, no… He needs to sign him because he gives Tottenham something no one else does in the current roster: chaos but with purpose.

This article first appeared on To The Lane And Back and was syndicated with permission.

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