It has been reported that Brighton & Hove Albion were extremely keen on signing Rico Lewis on loan from Manchester City.
This comes from the Sun (30/7; page 65) after the 18-year-old ended his debut season at his boyhood club as a treble-winner.
Despite Rico Lewis playing a major role in how Manchester City evolved their tactical setup last season, Brighton & Hove Albion were seemingly confident that they had a chance of striking up a loan deal for him.
Brighton were plotting season-long loan deal for Rico Lewis from Manchester City
Branded as ‘exceptional’ by Pep Guardiola, the manner in which the teenager operated as an inverted right-back seemingly gave John Stones the blueprint on how to do so further into the campaign.
While Guardiola perhaps demanded a more defensively-sound, physical specimen like the latter in the role, Lewis’ performances after being thrown straight into the deep end were simply sensational.
So much so that as Rico Lewis has made headlines for all the right seasons, as many as more than 12 clubs, including the likes of Brighton, Everton and Southampton were keen on signing him on loan.
However, all these approaches have been rejected by the English juggernaut, rather unsurprisingly.
Rico Lewis is the present and the future of the Sky Blues
Simply put, Brighton especially came into the picture to sign the wonderkid on loan a season too late, as he has now cemented his place as a key cog in the Manchester City first-team.
And next season, one wonders if the highly-rated talent’s role in the side increases with Kyle Walker constantly linked with a move to Bayern Munich.
While it is expected that Lewis will be City’s right-back for years to come, he also has a major role to play in the present, which makes it impossible for any club to even have considered securing his services for even a single campaign.
real more:
According to a recent report from The Athletic “the European champions have been in talks with Bayern [Munich] over a deal for [Kyle] Walker and a move is still considered likely, although there is more hope within the club that Bernardo will stay for at least one more season.”
Since joining the Manchester club back in 2017 from Monaco in a deal worth £43m, the Portuguese international has gone on to make 306 appearances across all competitions
