Rico Lewis has said he has no intention of leaving Manchester City this summer and believes missing out on the Premier League title last season has “fuelled the fire” in Pep Guardiola’s squad.
The 20-year-old England defender is the subject of interest from Nottingham Forest but Lewis, who joined City at the age of eight, indicated that he would prefer to stay at the Etihad. “For me, I’ve never ever seen myself leaving,” Lewis said after helping City to a 4-0 victory at Wolves on Saturday. “I’ve always wanted to play for City. It’s my dream. When I’m playing with the kind of players that I’m playing with, it brings out the best of me. So I’m so happy.”
Lewis made 44 appearances in all competitions last season but fell behind Matheus Nunes – typically a midfielder – in the pecking order at right-back. Lewis has since spoken to Guardiola about his future. “Everyone wants that assurance and security, but at the end of day, it’s on me,” Lewis added. “It’s on me to perform. Last season I played more than the season before. So it’s always the same goal – to become an established player.”
Guardiola signalled to Lewis that he remains a key part of his plans by preferring him to Nunes in the win at Molineux, in which Erling Haaland scored twice and Tijjani Reijnders and Rayan Cherki both found the net on their league debuts.
Discussing the pain of last season and City’s ambition to win a fifth title in six years, Lewis said: “As much as we want to forget about last season, obviously it’s in the back of our minds and maybe we could say it’s fuelled the fire in us, but we’re so focused on this season. We feel so much stronger together as a team. There’s always hunger but I think there could be additional hunger now that it’s not our crown to defend.”
Forest targeted Lewis as part of a double swoop of City academy talents with plans to sign the versatile defender and James McAtee but have only sealed a deal for the latter, for £30m. “I feel ready for a new challenge and the club had a great season last year, so I want to help build on that and show what I can do,” McAtee said after being unveiled.
Forest are on a recruitment drive after their head coach, Nuno Espírito Santo, suggested he was short of options before hosting Brentford on Sunday. They are closing on a deal for the Rennes striker Arnaud Kalimuendo and are interested in the former Aston Villa midfielder Douglas Luiz, who is keen on a return to the Premier League from Juventus.
McAtee, who has signed a five-year contract, followed fellow England Under-21 midfielder Omari Hutchinson in joining Forest this week, after the 21-year-old winger switched from Ipswich in a £37m deal.
