Tottenham Hotspur will be ruing the fact that they could not get a deal for a French starlet over the line despite leading the race for a long time, and the attacker has just rubbed it in by delivering a world-class showing against Spain in the Nations League semifinal.
The transfer window has not started the way Tottenham Hotspur would have wanted, with the Lilywhites seemingly on the verge of losing out on several of their top targets.
One of these is Rayan Cherki, who Spurs were the favourites to land from Lyon until a couple of weeks ago.
However, despite Tottenham’s efforts to up the ante for Cherki, over recent days, it has emerged that their Premier League rivals are now expected to seal the deal for the player.
Cherki is now expected to complete a €40m (£33.7m) move to Man City, with rumours indicating that only final details are left to be ironed out before the 21-year-old moves to the Etihad Stadium.
Rayan Cherki shows Tottenham what they missed out on
The versatile attacker made his senior debut for France in their Nations League semifinal against Spain on Thursday, coming on as a substitute in place of Michael Olise on 63 minutes.
Even though Les Blues lost 5-4, the Lyon man stole the show, delivering a goal and an assist, and posing a threat every single time he got on the ball.
MORE SPURS STORIES
Here are the Tottenham target’s outstanding stats from the clash on Thursday:
Cherki’s debut goal in international football was a thing of beauty, with the winger taking a touch on the edge of the box before striking a brilliant volley into the far corner.
Cherki is not the only key target Spurs are set to miss out on
It is not just Cherki who has snubbed the Lilywhites, with reports indicating that Johnny Cardoso has turned down Spurs in favour of a move to Atletico Madrid.
Tottenham were previously confident that they would win the race for Angel Gomes, but the England international is now thought to be on his way to Marseille (TBR Football).