Exclusive: Liverpool Join Manchester City & United in Race for Lyon Wonderkid Mathis Rayan Cherki

Liverpool are looking to beat competition from the Premier League and across Europe for Lyon wonderkid Mathis Rayan Cherki.

Despite only turning 16 in August, Cherki - who is capped for France at youth level but is also eligible for Algeria - has already his made Ligue 1 and Champions League debuts for Lyon, after rocketing through the club's youth system.

A young attacker, who can play anywhere across the front line, Cherki made his first-team debut in October in a 0-0 draw with Dijon and came off the bench in last week's Champions League defeat to Zenit St Petersburg.

​Liverpool, who have put a recruitment emphasis on finding the next generation of talent, are hopeful of a move for the potential superstar but face competition from ​Manchester United, while Manchester City and Real Madrid are also contenders. 

Although Cherki signed a contract in the summer that ties him to Lyon until 2022, 90min understands that club president Jean-Michel Aulas knows he is now fighting a losing battle to keep hold of the rising star and could sanction a move in January – if the deal is right.

Aulas is a famously tough negotiator, however, and Liverpool fans may remember him from the Reds' negotiations over ex-Lyon star Nabil Fekir - a deal which infamously collapsed at the eleventh hour.

In addition to United, City and Real Madrid, the likes of Barcelona, Juventus, Bayern Munich and Ajax have all been rumoured as suitors for the teenager that former ​Lyon coach Bruno Genesio described as 'an alien'.

Last year, Cherki became the youngest player to score in the UEFA Youth League at the age of just 15 years and 33 days in a 4-1 win over Manchester City, while he also scored a five-minute hat-trick for Lyon's Under-17s.

He has been likened to former Lyon academy alumni Hatem Ben Arfa and Karim Benzema in terms of style and level of talent.

Regardless of whether a deal from Cherki comes off, Liverpool continue to look for top young talent, with recruitment for the first-team seemingly necessary for the immediate future. Last summer at Anfield saw the arrivals of Harvey Elliot from Fulham - the youngest ever player in Premier League history - and 17-year-old Dutch centre back Sepp van den Berg.