Rico Lewis on not leaving Man City and why he’s ready to seize his chance in midfield

Rico Lewis says England should strive to emulate Manchester City by dominating games.

“I think I’m obviously biased because I play for City but the way we play is the best way to play,” the 19-year-old says. “It’s definitely possible to do that with England because of the quality of players we have.”

So, is that the route to success?

“Well, I mean we have won four Premier Leagues in a row so... I think it’s a good formula,” Lewis adds.

It is not said with arrogance but a confidence born of experience. It is also telling, it seems, that Lewis has been included in Lee Carsley’s first squad as England’s interim manager, alongside other technically-gifted young players such as Lille’s Angel Gomes and Nottingham Forest’s Morgan Gibbs-White.

Carsley has been good to his word. He wants to put his own stamp on the England squad.

“I don’t think it’s a completely new era or something like that because there were already young players in the squad – Cole [Palmer] was in there, obviously Jude [Bellingham],” Lewis says.

“There are so many young players already. But I think Lee’s looked at the team he has used before and if he wants to implement his own style with England he probably wants to use the players he knows.

“Even when I was with him with the Under-21s, he wanted to control the game and he wanted to win games and be exciting. He always talked about ... playing exciting football, so I don’t see why not.”

‘I had to be on it and be fit to play’

Lewis’s recall is thoroughly deserved. He was perhaps unfortunate to be left out of Gareth Southgate’s squad for the European Championship but saw being left behind as an opportunity.

England making it to the final meant his City team-mates, Kyle Walker and John Stones, would probably not be ready to start the new season. So Lewis made sure he was and, so far, has been included in every game for City.

“I knew that England were doing really well in the Euros and that meant that the lads like John and Kyle would be coming late and that would give me opportunities on the [pre-season] tour and then the first few games,” Lewis says.

“I had to be on it and I had to be fit so I could play. Just focus. And every time I had the chance to play, just take it.”

His preparations included hours in the Phoenix Muay Thai boxing gym in Whitefield, a couple of miles from Bury in Lancashire, wherehe grew up. It is owned by his father, Rick, a two-time British champion in the sport.

“There’s stuff that I can implement into football,” Lewis says of the training.

“Just the discipline. You can take that into everyday life. A lot of the actions you do in Thai boxing. There is a lot of balance, a lot of agility and I think that definitely helps me.

“It’s helped me from being young to now. My role now is being more of a midfielder, getting on the ball, turning and stuff like that, being stronger and agile.”

And he does see himself as a midfielder – not a full-back.

‘I like being in attacking positions’

“I prefer to play as a number eight, just because I like being in attacking positions,” he says, although, in the system Pep Guardiola uses at City he has the licence to step into the midfield.

“We play in a system where there is so much rotation, you cannot put a player in just one position,” Lewis argues, and he discusses the “concepts” that Guardiola teaches. “Just how we move in relation to each other or, basically, how we change depending on the opposition,” he says. The manager teaches him how it is “more about feel” when he decides to move infield from defence.

Little wonder that Lewis has never considered going out on loan, despite the daunting competition he faces for a regular starting place. “I never thought about going anywhere,” he says.

“I was training with the best players in the world and the best manager in the world day-in, day-out and it’s pretty much impossible not to learn stuff.

“Obviously, playing games is important and that’s what people will look at – how you are doing. But I don’t think there is any place that has got better development than City.

“Phil [Foden] had that path before me and there’s no one in front of me who hasn’t done that and got into the first team. To see him do it gives me that peace of mind.”

As does his England call-up. Carsley first addressed the 23-man squad that will face the Republic of Ireland and Finland in the Nations League campaign after dinner on Tuesday at St George’s Park. The message was Guardiola-like in its clarity.

“To dominate pretty much every game we play,” Lewis said. “That is the intention, to dominate and control the whole game and with that comes a lot of exciting work.”