Nedum Onuoha has claimed that Manchester City have a “diamond” of a young player on their hands.
Over the years, City have gained a reputation for producing top young players, who either play for their first-team or are thriving at other top European clubs.
Phil Foden, who broke into their senior side as a teenager is now their “go-to guy” this season, according to Rio Ferdinand.
However, Cole Palmer, who left the club in the summer to go on and become Chelsea’s standout player this campaign is one of the favourites to take home the PFA Young Player of the Season award.
Nedum Onuoha says Rico Lewis is “the next diamond” of a youngster at Manchester City
Oscar Bobb, however, is slowly but surely becoming an integral member of their first-team and signed a contract until 2029, which shows how much faith the club have in his talent.
But then Jeremie Frimpong left City to sign for Celtic and went on to join Bayer Leverkusen, where he could win the Bundesliga while being one of the world’s best attacking right wing-backs.
But Rico Lewis, who continues to grow from strength to strength in a Manchester City shirt was praised by Nedum Onuoha for his performance against Tottenham in Manchester City’s 4-2 win against them last season.
“He gave him the opportunity and he took it, he took it so well and [Pep] Guardiola, potentially, has unearthed the next diamond at Man City”, he said on the first episode of Netflix’s Together: Treble Winners documentary.
Nedum Onuoha is one of the many admirers Rico Lewis has, with Pep Guardiola explaining in May how he transformed City’s campaign by showcasing how to play as an inverted right-back to the likes of John Stones and Kyle Walker.
Rico Lewis will likely showcase his class if he starts against Aston Villa
It seems like Lewis could in with a chance of starting against Aston Villa, with Walker set to also miss City’s clash against Real Madrid next Tuesday.
Nedum Onuoha rightly described Rico Lewis as “the next diamond” at Manchester City as he tends to perform almost every time he is asked to, like against Arsenal on Sunday.
The England international is expected to produce yet another impressive showing against Unai Emery’s side if he does start as he seems to have mastered the inverted right-back role.
While Lewis is far from the finished article, he delivers more often than not, regardless of the opposition he is facing, which is a huge feat for a 19-year-old player.