Some have even gone as far to suggest that Zidane has been joined in the most distinguished of talent pools. Lebeouf, another World Cup winner from 1998, told GOAL – while speaking in association with talkSPORT Bet Online Slots – when asked who he sees Cherki being similar to: “He’s a little bit like Zizou. The skill that he shows reminds me sometimes of Zinedine. It’s true. But of course, you can put also Maradona in there and all those players who know how to work.
“You know what? I was very fond of, and I always talk to him, Hatem Ben Arfa. When he was playing for Marseille, Paris and Newcastle for example. But the problem with those players is what I call street footballers, they were born in the street, they got the skills in the street but they don’t have the tactics. They forgot the tactics. Hatem Ben Arfa was like that. He was giving the ball either too early or too late.
“But Rayan Cherki seems to understand the tactics, seems to understand when to listen to the music. Because football is music. You know when you have to slow down and when you have to accelerate. And Rayan seems to be understanding that kind of spirit.
“And therefore, it’s more Zinedine Zidane because Zizou knew how to get rid of the ball or to keep it at the right time, at the right moment. Johan Cruyff as well in my time – that was my first star.
“But if somebody says Rayan Cherki is not a great footballer, the guy is crazy. The guy is why you pay tickets to the stadium. You don’t go to see Frank Leboeuf defending and tackling, you go to see Cherki doing crazy stuff with the ball that only he can do. That’s why we love football, because those type of players give you joy.”
