Pep Guardiola hails Rico Lewis after selecting Man City youngster to start at Leeds

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has defended selecting 18-year-old Rico Lewis – saying his performance against Liverpool last week made it ‘impossible’ to leave him out. 

Lewis is one of City’s most highly-rated young players and impressed in the club’s 3-2 win over rivals Liverpool in the Carabao Cup last week. 

Asked about his decision to start the youngster, Pep Guardiola told Amazon Prime that his performance meant it would have been ‘unfair’ to not play him. 

Pep Guardiola said it would have been ‘impossible’ not start Rico Lewis after last week’s showing

‘For the way he played against Liverpool (he is starting),’ Guardiola said.

‘It would be unfair to not let him play again – it is almost impossible to play better than [he did last week].

‘I had a feeling he had to play again. At the the moment, he is in perfect position to play.’

His starting berth means he becomes the youngest English player to start for City in the Premier League since Micah Richards in 2006, who was 17 when he appeared against Blackburn. It is also Lewis’ first away appearance for City. 

The full-back was impressive as Manchester City beat Liverpool 3-2 in first game back post-World Cup

Such is Guardiola’s faith in the player, he opted to start him despite having both Joao Cancelo and Kyle Walker on the bench.

Indeed, the early knockings of the game were notable for Lewis being deployed in an inverted role – taking the ball off the two centre-backs in the middle of the pitch, despite Leeds’ propensity to press. 

Former England midfielder Steve Stone told BBC Radio 5 Live that Lewis’s inclusion provides an entire boost for the whole club – supporters who like to see an academy player come through the ranks and other young players at the club who are given encouragement. 

‘It’s all good and well bringing all these players in for big, big money but every fan of every club loves to see a local lad come through in the youth academy system and do well,’ Stone said.

He becomes the youngest English player since Micah Richards to start a Premier League game for City

‘It gives inspiration for other young lads at the football club, to show that there’s a path into the first team. There has to be that – it’s no good running an academy just to try to sell players on.

‘It’s really important that players like Rico Lewis come into the team, do well and Pep sticks by them. Manchester City have a little bit of a history of that with Foden coming through as well, so it’s really nice to see.

‘It’s well-deserved, as well. Kyle Walker played a lot of minutes at the World Cup and was just coming back from injury. Pep will be treading carefully with him because he knows he’s a huge player for City.’