Rico Lewis says that he was a big admirer of Ilkay Gundogan before he left Manchester City.
After captaining the Citizens to win their three titles last season, the German brought an end to his seven years at the club by joining Barcelona as a free agent during the recent summer transfer window.
Now though, one current City player has shared his thoughts on the 32-year-old and his influence in Pep Guardiola’s side last season.
Lewis says he looked up to Gundogan
Speaking in a recent video on the club’s official YouTube channel, Lewis had this to say about Gundogan and how he viewed the midfielder.
He said: “I looked up to Gundogan, who was just amazing last year, and I think a lot of the players, even the older players looked up to him as someone who was just reliable in the team.”
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Last season saw the midfielder feature in 51 games for City across all competitions, scoring 11 goals and providing seven assists in the process, in addition to playing in a number of different midfield positions.
Having played such a prominent role in the team and delivering goal contributions in big games such as the semi-final Champions League clash away at Real Madrid and the FA Cup final against Manchester United, this shows why Lewis was so in awe of the German and his efforts last term.
With all of that in mind, it’s safe to say that the Manchester club lost a significant figure on and off the pitch when they saw Gundogan wave goodbye to the Etihad Stadium during the recent summer transfer window.
Moving forward, while it was good for Lewis to have someone like Gundogan to look up to, it’d be a good aim for him to become as prominent and effective in the team as the former City captain was.