Zinedine Zidane doesn't hand out praise lightly. So when France's new head coach was asked whether he'd have enjoyed playing alongside Rayan Cherki, the answer carried weight.
"Yes, well yes, he's a proper footballer," Zidane said. "But it's not just that — everyone knows about that. What interests me is what he's capable of doing without the ball."
The compliment lands differently coming from a man widely regarded as the most elegant and technically gifted player of his era. Zidane wasn't just admiring the obvious. He was looking at the parts of Cherki's game that don't make the highlight reels.
"He's capable of receiving the ball between the lines; he makes incredible passes. Two or three times, when he plays vertically, it can be immediately effective."
Cherki, 23, started Zidane's first match in charge on Friday night — a 1-0 win over Turkey. He played 78 minutes before making way for Eduardo Camavinga, operating in a slightly deeper role than City fans might be used to seeing.
Zidane spoke afterwards about the midfielder's contribution both with and without the ball, and the positional experiment looks set to continue. France face Belgium in their second Nations League fixture on Monday evening, and Cherki is expected to keep his place in that deeper station.
It's an interesting development for City. A player who arrived with a reputation for flair is being trusted with the less glamorous side of the game by one of the greats. Zidane's interest in the defensive and link-up work suggests he sees something beyond the tricks.
Cherki is one of 20 players called up by France for this camp.
Elsewhere, City's international contingent is scattered across the globe. Rayan Ait-Nouri is with Algeria, Geronimo Rulli and Enzo Fernandez with Argentina, Vitor Reis with Brazil, Mateo Kovacic and Josko Gvardiol with Croatia, Marc Guehi, Nico O'Reilly and Elliot Anderson with England, Gianluigi Donnarumma with Italy, Ayyoub Bouaddi with Morocco, Erling Haaland with Norway, Ruben Dias with Portugal, Iliman Ndiaye with Senegal and Abdukodir Khusanov with Uzbekistan.
At youth level, Rico Lewis is with England Under-21, while Kaden Braithwaite and Ryan McAidoo turn out for England Under-19 and Floyd Samba represents Germany Under-19.
For Cherki, though, the focus is on Monday and the chance to build on a promising first outing under Zidane. A manager who knows a thing or two about playing between the lines seems to like what he sees.