Rico Lewis is Guardiola’s pocket-sized hero for Manchester City

Rico Lewis floats from full-back into Manchester City’s midfield and ­further upfield with such ease he is the blueprint Pep Guardiola footballer. At 19, the boy from Bury is a veteran of two Premier League title wins, including in the treble triumph of two seasons ago in his breakthrough campaign, and is emerging as the closest Guardiola has to a long-term ­successor to Rodri as his pivotal ­holding player.

Or to Ilkay Gündogan, the No 8. The more advanced playmaker could be an option, too. This could be dismissed as hyperbole were it not the manager’s assessment when asked whether Lewis can operate in these roles. “He can play in every position, he is so smart,” Guardiola says.

“You ask any player: ‘What is your position?’ And they say: ‘I play holding midfielder. I play winger. I play that.’ Rico plays football. If you put him in one position, he knows exactly what he has to do. He’s so intelligent. He’s playing [this season] because he’s playing really good.”

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Guardiola admires Lewis’s technical mastery, as he signalled after last October’s 3-1 Champions League win at Leipzig, when the then 18-year-old gave one of his accomplished displays. “I’ve been a manager for 14, 15 years, training unbelievable players,” Guardiola said then. “To find one like him in the pockets, he is one of the best I’ve ever trained.”

“Pockets” is the revealing word here. A manager who demands City flourish in the congested spaces of elite football seeks out those who can dominate these areas. Lewis, in his nascent career, has been utilised mainly as an inverted full-back who wanders inside and towards the opponent’s area. For Wednesday’s Champions League goalless draw with Inter he was deployed at right-back and shone against Carlos Augusto. As Guardiola says: “He played one of the best wingers in Europe and played 11 [out of 10].”

Lewis’s debut in the 2022-23 season came as a late substitute in a 4-0 win over Bournemouth and was followed by a first start that November: the 3-1 victory over Sevilla when, at 17 years and 346 days, he became the second-youngest Englishman (behind Jude Bellingham) to score in the Champions League.

By the end of the season Lewis was a Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League winner, making 23 appearances. Fourteen were in the league, a contribution Guardiola credited as key – for showing his established elite talent how to operate the hybrid role. “The movement he does makes many things fluid,” he said. “After that Kyle [Walker] realises, and John [Stones] playing in that position has been exceptional.”

Guardiola has a penchant for overdoing praise – often of the opposition and their manager – but it was still a surprise that last season Lewis’s minutes rose from 1,428 to only 1,608. Or perhaps not, since Phil Foden was eased into the first-team picture over six seasons so that, last term, he was ready to take over from a long-term injured Kevin De Bruyne, and ended with 27 goals, 12 assists and both player of the year awards.

This season, Lewis has started four of City’s five matches. Guardiola says: “He has always been really good. That’s why he deserves the minutes that he has.”

With his total footballer attributes, Lewis is reminiscent of Fernandinho, Rodri’s predecessor, whom Guardiola deployed in central defence and at full-back. Guardiola is reminded that he once said he wished for multiple Fernandinhos, and jokes when stating he wants the same regarding Lewis. “I would like to have two – [and] him a little bit taller, but his mum and dad didn’t give him this attribute,” he says. “But he solved it in other aspects. He always wants the ball, he’s so intelligent defensively, he’s aggressive one against one.”

For the foreseeable future, Lewis’s starting position will remain in defence. “He could play more in the centre position for the midfield players, for his dynamic intelligence in arriving in the final third, for many things,” Guardiola says. “But he’s a really good defender.”

Lewis – and City – will have to be really good, too, when Arsenal arrive at the Etihad Stadium for Sunday’s Premier League showdown.