Noel Gallagher loves ‘balls’ of Enzo Fernandez and names ‘diamond’ Man City must build team around – and it’s not Erling Haaland
Noel Gallagher has hailed Enzo Fernandez’s personality and the maverick ability of Rayan Cherki, insisting they are exactly what Manchester City need.
The Oasis megastar joined talkSPORT Drive in the wake of a hugely eventful transfer deadline day, which saw his beloved City pull off the signing of Fernandez from Chelsea at the 11th hour.
After a summer of uncertainty, the midfielder finally joined the Citizens for £125million on deadline day in a record-equalling deal.
It brought an end to an eventful transfer window for Fernandez, who’s move to the Etihad looked to be off after Man City missed Chelsea’s initial a deadline of 5pm on Friday, August 14 for interested clubs to meet their £120m asking price.
Despite the Blues’ stance, the deal accelerated in the final hours of the transfer window and was announced just after the 11pm deadline.
Fernandez wasn’t the Citizens’ only Deadline Day arrival, with Iliman Ndiaye also signing from Everton in deal worth £65m overall.
The duo join a star-studded Man City side looking to steal back their Premier League crown from Arsenal and once again challenge for silverware on all fronts, with the likes of Erling Haaland and Phil Foden looking to spearhead the charge.
And while Ndiaye and Fernandez only add the new big names in the City dressing room, megafan Gallagher believes another player is the jewel in their crown.
Gallagher: Cherki should be the main man
Gallagher named the dazzling Cherki as Man City’s most important player, insisting Enzo Maresca must make him the focal point of his team.
The enigmatic Frenchman has earned a reputation as the Premier League’s biggest entertainer after a stunning debut campaign last term, and showcased all of his natural talent in his side’s 4-1 win over Crystal Palace.
Cherki netted a mouth-watering brace in the win – with his first goal seeing him dance through the Palace defence before slotting home.
Discussing the 22-year-old’s impressive display, Gallagher insisted: “They need to build the team around him.
“That’s what I think he needs to be given the licence to, because he can pop up anywhere in the last third of the pitch.
“The [first] goal at Palace – when your team are up there and you can’t really see what’s going on [from the stands], none of us really knew how he’d managed to get it.
“And even when we came home and watched it back, I was like, ‘How has he done that?'”
Continuing to wax lyrical about Cherki, Gallagher insisted the playmaker’s carefree style – which he has previously criticised him for taking too far – makes him the Citizens’ biggest weapon.
He added: “He’s got that indefinable thing that magicians have. He’s gnarly, he says mad stuff, but I mean, he’s an absolute diamond.”
Fernandez personality hailed
After naming Cherki as his team’s maverick man, Gallagher went on to hail Enzo Fernandez’ character as exactly what City need.
The £125m Argentine has become something of a pantomime villain in English football after he drew the ire of England fans by mocking the Three Lions with a social media post playing their unofficial ‘Wonderwall’ anthem after Argentina’s World Cup semi-final victory.
But with Fernandez’s gritty streak also seeing him play a crucial role in Argentina’s 2022 World Cup glory, Gallagher insisted his willingness to ruffle feathers makes him perfect for his City team.
The music icon said: “Everybody’s now going, ‘Oh, Fernandez, he’s this and he’s that’. Yeah, he is when you’re playing against him.
“But when he’s in your team, he’s the kind of player that you want.
“I want a Roy Keane-type player. I’m not putting him on the level of Roy Keane, but getting stuck into their midfielders – I want that, and I want that at City because Phil [Foden] ain’t gonna do it, Elliot Anderson ain’t gonna do it.”
Gallagher was also impressed by Fernandez taking the No.17 shirt at Man City – a shirt previously worn by club icon Kevin De Bruyne.
He added: “This Fernandez kid, I like his vibe, and I’m glad he’s here, and I’m glad he took Kevin’s shirt because I can guarantee you this, he wouldn’t have been offered it.
“I’m glad that he took it because that shows that he’s got balls and I like it.”
Future is bright under Man City chairman
Gallagher also shed light on a conversation he had with Man City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak ahead of a summer of transition at the Etihad.
The departure of legendary manager Pep Guardiola was followed by modern-day greats Bernardo Silva and Rodri leaving to join Real Madrid and Barcelona respectively, leaving the Citizens to replace the pillars of their iconic 2023 treble-winning side.
But they have wasted no time in bringing in replacements, with Elliot Anderson first joining in a then British-record £116m move.
His arrival has been followed up by the arrival of Morocco World Cup star Ayyoub Bouaddi in a record Premier League fee for a teenager, before the Deadline Day acquisitions of Ndiaye and Fernandez.
And Gallagher revealed City’s summer business has seen chairman Al Mubarak follow up on the succession plan he shared with him at the very start of the summer.
Opening up on their conversation, Gallagher revealed: “I said, ‘How do you see it?’
“And he said, ‘Look, are we going to win 20 trophies in the next ten years? It’s highly unlikely. Are we going to win ten trophies in the next ten years? Maybe’
“He said, ‘But all I can promise you is, we are going to build a team that is going to be there. We’re going to be there, and we’re going to be fighting, and it’s not going to fall off, and they’re going to do everything they can’.
“He said they were going to spend big in this window, and the players that he outlined to me are – apart from Ndiaye, who nobody saw coming – the exact players he told me he was going to get.”
Gallagher continued to hail Al Mubarak as City chairman, who has overseen an era of unprecedented success since assuming his role with Sheikh Mansour’s purchase of the club in 2008.
He added: “That guy – he walks it like he talks it. I’ve had three conversations with him in the last however many years it’s been, of how the next five years are going to play out, and he’s been true to his word, and he’s detailed it almost exactly as it’s played out.
“So I can say to City fans, we might not win the league this year, but next year, this team, I mean, even by the end of this year, this team might be flying.
“But next year, with Bouaddi and the team now, the average age is 25 or something. We’re ready. We are primed to do it again.”
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