Rico Lewis has been the talk of the town following his display against Bayern Munich yesterday in pre-season for Manchester City.
The 18-year-old was handed a start by Pep Guardiola, and the talented teenager absolutely shone.
Lewis was mainly operating as a number eight, ahead of the sitting midfielders John Stones and Mateo Kovacic.
He was playing alongside fellow academy graduate James McAtee, with Bernardo Silva and Jack Grealish occupying the wings.
Lewis tends not to play that high up, but he looked more than comfortable in the role.
He played a key role in the opening goal by McAtee, and he was just everywhere for City and played with real confidence against one of the biggest clubs in Europe.
After the game, Lewis came in for praise from former City players Paul Dickov and Steve Howey.
And Pep Guardiola also sang his praises.
Jack Grealish and Ederson hype up Rico Lewis on Instagram
After the game, Lewis posted on Instagram.
He uploaded a picture of himself with the simple caption ‘Good to be back’.
Lewis received many comments from fans, with plenty telling him how well he had played for the 45 minutes he was on the pitch.
And a couple of his City’s teammates also replied.
Jack Grealish was clearly impressed with Lewis, writing ‘Man like reeeeeeks’.
Goalkeeper Ederson felt no words were ever required, leaving a clapping emoji and also a thumbs up emoji.
Lewis has potential to become world-class
What a brilliant display this was from Lewis, in a role that he has very little experience in.
He may have played a bit further forwards when he was younger, but this was him being rather thrown in at the deep end by Pep – and Lewis performed brilliantly.
He is such a good player for his age, and undoubtedly he has the potential to become world-class in the future.
Guardiola has had a player like him before.
At Bayern, the Spaniard had Philipp Lahm, a full-back who would often play in midfield.
Lahm, one of the best German players ever, could control games with his technical quality and tactical intelligence, despite not being the biggest in stature.
Potentially, Lewis could become a bit like him later in his career.
