Rayan Cherki has dismissed reports of a rift with France teammate Michael Olise by announcing that he will personally perform a different elaborate practical joke at every single France training session until the 2030 World Cup, beginning with a fully choreographed routine involving a fake tactics board and a borrowed groundskeeper's cart at the next international camp.
«I have never had a problem with Michael,» Cherki said. «I simply believe that a national team camp without at least one prank is a wasted camp. I have prepared a schedule. There are folders. There are props. There is a man in Lyon building me a fake trophy that I will present to the wrong player every single day.»
The France coaching staff, informed of the plan, have reportedly reserved an extra forty minutes at the end of each session for what the federation now calls «the Cherki segment.» A logistics officer has been assigned to source rubber chickens, whoopee cushions and a selection of increasingly large hats, and the team bus has been fitted with a second door that opens onto a wall.
Olise, for his part, has requested only that the pranks not interfere with set-piece practice. Cherki has agreed, on the condition that he may deliver the ball for every corner while wearing a disguise of his own choosing. The first camp begins next month. The fake trophy is nearly finished.