Mavericks are currently a rare breed, neither sought after nor essential in today’s football landscape. This trend may shift with the sport’s next evolutionary cycle, but for now, it’s the runners and powerful players who dominate, thriving under meticulously crafted, NFL-inspired strategies.

Rayan Cherki defies this modern mold. He doesn’t fit the profile of a contemporary attacker. Instead, Cherki embodies a more liberated spirit, reminiscent of a bygone era, which might explain why some elite clubs overlooked him. Yet, this divergence is not necessarily a drawback.

Recently, a source shared that Pep Guardiola expressed frustration to friends about the game’s increasing dependence on data, lamenting the loss of spontaneous play. This perspective sheds light on why Manchester City invested £31 million to acquire Cherki from Lyon over the summer.

Guardiola elaborated on this concept prior to their victory over Bournemouth, emphasizing the need for balance within the team. He suggested that the lineup used at Villa Park was ultimately skewed too heavily in one direction.

This discussion related to how Guardiola might integrate both Cherki and Phil Foden into his starting lineup. Although Bournemouth, under Andoni Iraola’s management, is highly adept at capitalizing on turnovers, the circumstances allowed for an experimental approach. The outcome was promising, especially considering it was a debut trial of this new strategy.

Erling Haaland spearheaded Manchester City to a 3-1 win over Bournemouth on Sunday

New recruit Rayan Cherki was also at the centre of City’s success, providing two assists on the day

Mavericks are in short supply but in Cherki, Pep Guardiola has found one

When Tijjani Reijnders was not deemed fit enough to feature from the off, the pair of them were thrown together. It seemed a surprising move yet the day ended with Cherki recording two assists, Foden one and both of their fingerprints across all three.

‘Cherki and Foden play one touch, bam bam,’ Iraola said somewhat cheerily, as if revelling in the street ability they can bring. ‘Then against Erling Haaland if you lose one metre, you are not recovering. It is going to be three metres at the end of the play.’

Foden became the youngest City player ever to reach 200 league appearances and the last few of those have been a natural progression to his development. Guardiola said recently that he wants Foden as close to goal as possible but the way in which he has been knitting City together from a deeper starting point is possibly offering them another unexpected string.

Is this how he is able to name both men alongside each other? They created five chances between them, directly combining for two goals – the second of which, for Nico O’Reilly, relied on Foden’s low centre of gravity on the half turn – and dovetailed with an uplifting exuberance. Just as Villa was not disastrous, this was not perfect, although the signs are broadly positive.

City’s squad were given Friday off so organised themselves a Halloween party the night before. The self-deprecating theme was, ‘I know what you did last season’ – a horror by their standards – and it’s fair to say they never quite had this level of sharp patterns through the lines, even if it will take some time to find consistency.

‘Rayan’s vision in the final third is so good, the consistency, the courage to play,’ Guardiola said, while stressing he stills needs to find the rhythm of the Premier League – noticeable by his reactions when the 22-year-old lost a couple of balls in dangerous areas after half time.

‘He has this special talent, the connection with the people up front that is unique.’ That should be no great shock: Cherki had 20 assists for Lyon in all competitions last season. Over the past year, none of his contemporaries in Europe’s top five leagues have managed more assists, expected assists, shot-creating actions or progressive passes per 90.

The Frenchman’s 85 per cent passing accuracy showcases how many killer balls he attempted

He left the pitch with 17 minutes to go after a stellar display, and the Etihad rose as one

That is why, when Guardiola called him in to rest with 17 minutes left, the Etihad rose as one. An appreciation for a maverick whose pass completion of 85 per cent showcases how many killer balls he was attempting.

These dwindling number of mavericks have this unifying quality, partly why fans always paid their money to attend at a weekend. Somewhere that has been lost in recent years and it would be a feather in the cap of City’s coaching staff if they can harness Cherki to such an extent that some flamboyance returns to this league.