Pep Guardiola hails star Man City are ‘incredibly lucky’ to have after Liverpool cup win

Pep Guardiola has said Manchester City are ‘incredibly lucky’ to have Rico Lewis after the teenager’s performance against Liverpool in the League Cup.

The Sky Blues emerged as 3-2 winners in the encounter with young right-back one of their standout stars.

Lewis was making just his third senior start for the club but played an important role as City progressed to the last eight of the Carabao Cup. Goals from Erling Haaland, Riyad Mahrez and Nathan Ake enough to overcome strikes from Fabio Carvalho and Mohamed Salah.

Guardiola was full of praise for the young Englishman after the match, suggesting the club were ‘incredibly lucky’ to have him and that he can be part of the squad for the next 10 years.

“For a long, long time. I didn’t see a performance like Rico Lewis,” he told Sky Sports. “At 18 years old he has played against Liverpool with biggest stars up front and the way he is playing with the ball and without the ball.

“We were lucky. We were incredibly lucky to have this player for the next decade. Hopefully, the club can take him in because he was exceptional. The game he played was exceptional.”

Guardiola was not the only one to be impressed by the 18-year-old’s performance with Micah Richards also singing his praises in the Sky Sports studio post-match, suggesting the youngster could go on to become a ‘superstar’.

“He [Lewis] was brilliant,” he said. “It was more the positions he was picking up, the way he pressed higher, the way he was getting on the ball. His decision-making was outstanding. When to go and when to drop off.

“He’s going to be a superstar and I rarely put that pressure on players because I don’t think it’s nice. Then if you don’t make it to the level, everyone’s saying they’re overhyped, but this is a special player what we’re seeing today.”