Rico Lewis

Rico Henry Mark Lewis (born 21 November 2004) is an English professional footballer who plays as a full-back or defensive midfielder for Premier League club Manchester City.

Rico Lewis
Lewis with Manchester City in 2023
Personal information
Full name Rico Henry Mark Lewis[1]
Date of birth (2004-11-21) 21 November 2004[2]
Place of birth Bury, England
Height 5 ft 7 in (1.69 m)[2]
Position(s) Full-back, defensive midfielder[3][4]
Team information
Current team
 Manchester City
Number 82
Youth career
2013–2022 Manchester City
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2022– Manchester City 18 (0)
International career‡
2019–2020 England U16[5] 3 (0)
2021–2022 England U18[6] 7 (1)
2022 England U19[7] 3 (0)
2023– England U21[8] 4 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23:04, 8 October 2023 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 10:37, 17 October 2023 (UTC)

Early life

Lewis was born in Bury, Greater Manchester.[9] When he was young, Lewis was inspired by the boxer Muhammad Ali.[10]

Club career

Early career

Lewis, a lifelong City fan, joined Manchester City's academy at the age of eight and joined the club's under-18 team at the age of 15. He captained the team for the 2021–22 season, with the team winning the title.[11] He was named on City's bench for the first time for Manchester City's first game of the 2022–23 season, and made his Premier League debut a week later, on 13 August 2022, against AFC Bournemouth, coming on as an 82nd-minute substitute for Kyle Walker.[12][13]

2022–23 season

Ahead of the season, Lewis was included as a part of Manchester City's preseason tour of the USA.[14], making his debut against Club América, and finished his preseason with an impressive showing against Bayern Munich.

On 13 August 2022, against AFC Bournemouth, Lewis made his Premier League debut, coming on as an 82nd-minute substitute for Kyle Walker.[15][13] On 5 October 2022, Lewis made his Champions League debut for Manchester City in a 5–0 win against Copenhagen, entering as a substitute for João Cancelo,[16] a player he has been compared to.[17]

After a string of substitute appearances, on the 2 November 2022, Lewis was given his first start in the Champions League, scoring his club their first goal in a 3–1 comeback win against Sevilla;[18] hence becoming the all-time youngest scorer on a first start in a Champions League match and City's youngest ever Champions League scorer, aged 17 years and 346 days.[19][20] Lewis received racist abuse during the match from Sevilla fans.[21] He was given his first start in the Premier League, in a 3-1 win over Leeds United, playing till the 68th minute, coming off for Joao Cancelo.[22]

On 20 May 2023, Manchester City won the Premier League, with Lewis being an integral part of the team in his debut season, playing 14 games, starting 10.[23] His team also won the FA Cup, with him playing all games but the final, completing a domestic double. On the 10th of June, 2023, his team won the Champions League for the first time, with Lewis being an unused substitute in the final, completing a historic treble, a feat only achieved once before in English Football.[24] With this win, Lewis became the youngest-ever English Champions League winner, and the youngest-ever treble winner.

In 2022, he was shortlisted for that year's BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year award.[25]

2023–24 season

On 11 August 2023, Lewis started the first game of the new Premier League season, in a 3-0 win over Burnley.[26] On 16 August 2023, he signed a new 5-year deal to keep him at the Etihad until 2028.

International career

In September 2021, Lewis scored for the England national under-18 team in a draw against Wales.[27]

On 21 September 2022, Lewis made his under-19 debut in a 2–0 2023 UEFA European Under-19 Championship qualification win over Montenegro in Denmark.[28]

Lewis made his debut for the under-21s on 28 March 2023 in a 2–1 defeat to Croatia at Craven Cottage.[29]

Career statistics
As of match played 8 October 2023[2]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup EFL Cup Europe Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Manchester City U21 2021–22[30] —————1[lower-alpha 1]010
2022–23[31] —————1[lower-alpha 1]010
Total ————2020
Manchester City 2022–23[31] Premier League 14050202[lower-alpha 2]1—231
2023–24[32] Premier League 4000102[lower-alpha 2]0—70
Total 180503041—301
Career total 18050304120321
  1. Appearance in EFL Trophy
  2. Appearances in UEFA Champions League

Honours

Manchester City

References
  1. "Updated Premier League squad lists for 2022/23". Premier League. 4 February 2023. Retrieved 20 May 2023.
  2. "R. Lewis: Summary". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
  3. "Rico Lewis: Profile". worldfootball.net. Perform Group. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
  4. "Rico Lewis". WhoScored.com. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
  5. "Match Results Under 16: 2010–2020". England Football Online. 2 March 2023. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
  6. "Match Results Under 18: 2020–2030". England Football Online. 13 June 2023. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
  7. "Match Results Under 19: 2020–2030". England Football Online. 29 March 2023. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
  8. "Match Results Under 21: 2020–2030". England Football Online. 22 June 2023. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
  9. "Rico Lewis: Academy to First Team". Manchester City F.C. 26 November 2022. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
  10. Mumford, Jack (15 October 2022). "RICO LEWIS' INSPIRATIONS: HIS DAD, MUHAMMAD ALI AND KYLE WALKER". Manchester City F.C. Retrieved 6 January 2023.
  11. "Rico Lewis player profile". Manchester City F.C. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
  12. Edwards, John. "Slick City cruise to victory over Bournemouth". Manchester City F.C. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
  13. "Manchester City 4–0 AFC Bournemouth". BBC Sport. 13 August 2022. Retrieved 22 August 2022.
  14. "WHO ARE THE TEENAGERS ON CITY'S US TOUR?". Manchester City. 19 July 2022. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
  15. Edwards, John. "Slick City cruise to victory over Bournemouth". Manchester City F.C. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
  16. "Relentless Haaland at the double as Man City crush Copenhagen". ESPN FC. Reuters. 5 October 2022. Retrieved 6 January 2023.
  17. "Rico Lewis: Man City's academy star could become the next Cancelo | Goal.com". Goal (website).
  18. "Man City 3–1 Sevilla: Rico Lewis makes Champions League history as City end Group G with victory". Sky Sports. 2 November 2022.
  19. "Manchester City 3–1 Sevilla". BBC Sport. 2 November 2022.
  20. "Teenager Lewis a dream for Man City – Guardiola". BBC Sport.
  21. "Man City condemn racist abuse of 17-year-old Lewis". BBC Sport.
  22. "Leeds United 1-3 Manchester City". SofaScore.
  23. "Manchester City win Premier League title after Arsenal lose at Nottingham Forest". The Athletic.
  24. Jackson, Jamie (20 May 2023). "How Rico Lewis helped harden up Manchester City's treble surge". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 20 May 2023.
  25. "Young Sports Personality 2022: Sky Brown, Jessica Gadirova & Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix on shortlist". BBC Sport. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
  26. "Burnley 0-3 Manchester City". BBC Sport. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
  27. "Wales U18 1–1 England U18: Rico Lewis cancels out Luke Harris opener". BBC Sport. 3 September 2021. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
  28. "Report: England MU19s 2–0 Montenegro". England Football. Frank Smith. 21 September 2022. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
  29. "Report: England MU21s 1-2 Croatia". EnglandFootball.com. Retrieved 30 March 2023.
  30. "Games played by Rico Lewis in 2021/2022". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
  31. "Games played by Rico Lewis in 2022/2023". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
  32. "Games played by Rico Lewis in 2023/2024". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
  33. "Rico Lewis: Overview". Premier League. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
  34. McNulty, Phil (3 June 2023). "Manchester City 2–1 Manchester United". BBC Sport. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
  35. McNulty, Phil (10 June 2023). "Manchester City 1–0 Inter Milan". BBC Sport. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
  36. "Manchester City 1–1(5-4p) Sevilla". 17 August 2023.
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