Manchester City's Rico Lewis has conceded that minutes on the pitch have been few and far between for him of late after grabbing two assists against AEK Athens on Tuesday night.
Will the 2026-27 season witness Rico Lewis' resurgence at Man City?
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Lewis has endured a frustrating 18 months at the Etihad Stadium, struggling for regular minutes and falling victim to his own versatility as times in not being the first-choice pick in defence or midfield in recent seasons.
The 21-year-old broke into the Manchester City starting XI under Pep Guardiola midway through his boyhood club's historic 2022-23 treble winning season, displacing Joao Cancelo at full-back and playing a crucial role in the greatest season in the Blues' history.
He went on to feature regularly the following season as City picked up a record fourth successive Premier League title, breaking into the England's senior squad and a career trajectory only heading upwards.
Lewis' struggles at Man City
However, the last year-and-a-half has seen Lewis settle for a bit-part role at Manchester City and the likes of Nottingham Forest have thereby tested the waters over an exit.
Lewis is understood to have been open to leaving Manchester City since last summer for regular first-team football, though he stayed put and signed a long-term contract till 2030 a year ago.
Manchester City's first-team squad has undergone a significant remake since last summer and with Enzo Maresca replacing Guardiola as manager, it was thought that Lewis would be handed a new lease of life under a coach he forged a strong relationship with during the latter's time working as Guardiola's assistant in the treble season.
After starting City's first game of the Premier League season against Bournemouth, Lewis has again been restricted to squad player status amid growing uncertainty over the Englishman's long-term prospects at the Etihad Stadium as investment continues into making Manchester City great again.
I'm looking forward to more games, says Lewis after impressive display against AEK Athens
However, as Maresca made eight changes to his line-up against AEK Athens in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday night after the weekend win over Ipswich Town, Lewis was handed a rare chance to impress alongside fellow academy graduate Phil Foden.
In an honest post-match interview with TNT Sports, Lewis said: "I've not had much time on the pitch and when you get thrown in, you kind of get all worked up on, 'I need to do well, I need to do this, I need to do that!'
"But I thought today, 'Just play your game and everything will come after'. Massive for my confidence and just looking forward to more games!"
On what it's been like working with Maresca since his tenure began in June, Lewis added: "Everything's clear, everyone knows the idea. When everyone knows the idea and everyone's onboard, that makes everything 10 times easier!
"Even if we do make mistakes, we're all going the same direction, we all know we're trying to do the right things. I think him coming back to a familiar building has helped him as well. But everything's going smooth right now!"
Lewis: Phil is unbelievable, it's amazing to see how well he's doing
It is unlikely that Lewis starts against Aston Villa on Saturday afternoon as Manchester City vie for an eighth successive win to start the Premier League campaign.
However, Foden could be rewarded for scoring four goals in as many days with a third start in seven days.
"Phil's an unbelievable player and when I first came into the first-team, I was closest with him, and I almost wanted to be him when I was coming up," Lewis added.
"So to be able to play with him now, five years down the line and assist him and see how well he's still doing, it's amazing!"
Unfortunately not good enough for the big games , Nunez is far better
I'd reluctantly agree with this Pete, I'm a huge fan of Lewis and his story, breaking into the XI in the treble season and displacing Cancelo. Nunes is very consistent and reliable in the bigger games, I'd also take Khusanov over Lewis in these bigger games because of the week-in, week-out experience the former got under his belt alongside Guehi in the title run-in with Guehi last season.