Rico Henry Mark Lewis (born 21 November 2004) is an English professional footballer who plays as a full-back or defensive midfielder for club Manchester City.
Early life
Lewis was born in Bury, Greater Manchester. When he was young, Lewis was inspired by the boxer Muhammad Ali.
Club career
Manchester City
Early career
Lewis, a lifelong City fan, joined Manchester City's academy at the age of eight and joined the club's under-18 team at the age of 15. He captained the team for the 2021–22 season, with the team winning the title. He was named on City's bench for the first time for Manchester City's first game of the 2022–23 season, and made his Premier League debut a week later, on 13 August 2022, against AFC Bournemouth, coming on as an 82nd-minute substitute for Kyle Walker.
2022–23 season
Ahead of the season, Lewis was included as a part of Manchester City's preseason tour of the USA., making his debut against Club América, and finished his preseason with an impressive showing against Bayern Munich.
On 13 August 2022, against AFC Bournemouth, Lewis made his Premier League debut, coming on as an 82nd-minute substitute for Kyle Walker. On 5 October 2022, Lewis made his Champions League debut for Manchester City in a 5–0 win against Copenhagen, entering as a substitute for João Cancelo, a player he has been compared to.
After a string of substitute appearances, on the 2 November 2022, Lewis was given his first start in the Champions League, scoring his club their first goal in a 3–1 comeback win against Sevilla; hence becoming the all-time youngest scorer on a first start in a Champions League match and City's youngest ever Champions League scorer, aged 17 years and 346 days. Lewis received racist abuse during the match from Sevilla fans. He was given his first start in the Premier League, in a 3-1 win over Leeds United, playing till the 68th minute, coming off for Joao Cancelo.
On 20 May 2023, Manchester City won the Premier League, with Lewis being an integral part of the team in his debut season, playing 14 games, starting 10. His team also won the FA Cup, with him playing all games but the final, completing a domestic double. On the 10th of June, 2023, his team won the Champions League for the first time, with Lewis being an unused substitute in the final, completing a historic treble, a feat only achieved once before in English Football. With this win, Lewis became the youngest-ever English Champions League winner, and the youngest-ever treble winner.
In 2022, he was shortlisted for that year's BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year award.
2023–24 season
On 11 August 2023, Lewis started the first game of the new Premier League season, in a 3-0 win over Burnley. On 16 August 2023, he signed a new 5-year deal to keep him at the Etihad until 2028.
International career
In September 2021, Lewis scored for the England national under-18 team in a draw against Wales.
On 21 September 2022, Lewis made his under-19 debut in a 2–0 2023 UEFA European Under-19 Championship qualification win over Montenegro in Denmark.
Lewis made his debut for the under-21s on 28 March 2023 in a 2–1 defeat to Croatia at Craven Cottage.