How Borussia Dortmund Torpedoed Cherki's €15M PSG Transfer

In summer 2024, Rayan Cherki was on the verge of joining PSG for €15 million, with a medical examination already scheduled. Borussia Dortmund’s intervention shattered everything, paving the way for a transfer to Manchester City a year later for €40 million.

The sequence began with John Textor in charge at Lyon. Unable to convince Cherki to extend his contract, the American president decided to sell to the first interested club. PSG seized the opportunity and negotiated the transfer at €15 million, bonuses included. The contractual agreement between the player and the Parisian club was finalized, and Cherki even took care to personally thank Nasser Al-Khelaïfi for his involvement in the negotiations.

But within days, Borussia Dortmund entered the picture. The German club dangled to the Lyon midfielder a guarantee that Luis Enrique’s PSG never offered: playing time. Irritated by the hesitation from Cherki’s camp, Paris cut short the dialogue.

« Everything was ready, except that Borussia Dortmund arrived at that moment, inserting themselves and offering playing time, which Paris never guarantees. Rayan and his entourage thought about it and delayed for a few days to see if Dortmund would follow through on their words, » a source close to the matter told L’Équipe.

The German option ultimately failed to materialize either, but the damage was done on Paris’s side. Cherki remained at Lyon until summer 2025, when Manchester City signed him for €40 million — more than double the price negotiated by PSG. Since his arrival in the Premier League, the French international has reached a new level, as evidenced by his performance against Liverpool this Sunday.