A year ago
Few, if any, football clubs in the world have done a better job recently than Manchester City at securing their future.
The city has a clear financial advantage over all but a small number of clubs, but it is how they have handled the immense money that has allowed them to distance themselves from almost everyone. not just in hiring but everywhere. No team makes as thorough of plans and anticipates the future as the Blues.
Creating an infrastructure specifically designed for Pep Guardiola,
City works at a higher level, whether it's building an academy with a phenomenally high talent output or constantly taking action to reenergize the team before they need to. This extends to signing their talents to long-term deals.
One only needs to take a quick look at City's roster to see that there is very little likelihood that their abilities will diminish any time soon. The club's top senior players have contracts that extend through 2027 for nine of them, 2026 for four, and 2025 for six more. City typically doesn't object to a player leaving if the appropriate compensation is offered, although they are free to raise the sums as much as they want. With a robust and stable foundation
The contact list contains one noteworthy error that needs to be fixed as soon as possible: Riley Lewis The teenager's extraordinary meteoric ascension to the first squad this season shouldn't go unnoticed. Last season, under his leadership, the Under-18s won the league championship. He made just 10 appearances in the EDS.
Instead, he has pretty much skipped over that rung entirely and made a name for himself on the first squad. He just recently turned 18 years old. He likely overtook Sergio Gomez as the third-choice full-back after his performances in his seven games, as he quickly understood what Guardiola wanted.
You only need to think back to Joao Cancelo's early problems at the Etihad to understand how challenging the Blues manager's demanding job description can be for full-backs. Some newcomers may need more than a year to fully adapt to their demands. Lewis has already completed it.
Lewis put up a great performance against Liverpool on Thursday, and Guardiola couldn't help but applaud him. "I had the impression that we couldn't play the way we did without him," he admitted. He played against a pretty experienced team today, which pleased me for someone so young.
"It is about without-the-ball intelligence, not intelligence with the ball. We had the honor of virtually announcing that this player, who is so brilliant and humble, will take a large decade and be an amazing player for Manchester City in the coming years because he grasps everything in a split second and applies it. For the foreseeable future, we have a fantastic right full-back. With Nunez, Salah, Thiago, and Robertson on his side, he always plays well, especially against Liverpool. He is eighteen years old. His playing style was exceptional. He was the game's hero.
Lewis's current deal only lasts until 2024, but it's difficult to see how that will hold for very long. As these lines are being typed, a new contract is probably in the works, and a club with the vision of City won't let such a prodigal talent slide through their fingers.
Christmas Day presents haven't quite arrived, but Lewis will soon receive the item at the top of his wish list.
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