Rico Lewis close to new Manchester City deal
Manchester City are close to finalising a new contract with defensive starlet Rico Lewis, 90min understands.
City opened talks with Lewis earlier this year, as 90min revealed, and negotiations have now progressed to the point where terms are close to being finalised.
18-year-old Lewis made his league debut in August and has progressed to become an important part of Pep Guardiola's squad. He has featured in nearly 20 games this season, both on the right and left of City's defence as well as in midfield in their new 3-2-4-1 system.
Lewis' progress has been recognised by England too - he made his Under-21 debut in March and it is felt he could be part of Gareth Southgate's squad for Euro 2024.
Guardiola is understood to regard Lewis as the heir apparent to stalwart Kyle Walker, who is entering the final year of his contract at City and has been linked with a summer move away from the club.
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Walker himself has been full of praise for Lewis and recently spoke on Man City's official podcast about his young colleague.
"I think Rico's unbelievable, I think his brain and how his brain works, for a young player, is fantastic. He's going to be under pressure, he's going to have setbacks. I've always said to any youngster that I've spoken to, it's about the top 10 per cent," said Walker.
"We all can play football or we wouldn't be here, but when you get the knockback or when you do play really well and something knocks you back, how do you then react off of that? I've seen a lot of players in my time come and go.
"Where, technically, I think they were better than me, but I feel just mentally, I don't think they had it and I don't think they ever wanted to ever push themselves that extra 10 per cent, whether that was in the gym or in the field."
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