Flying Canary Jamal Lewis is relishing the prospect of testing himself against right wing wizards Mo Salah and Bernardo Silva in the Premier League next season.
The young left-back also has a high profile opening day preference when the top-flight fixtures are released on June 13 ahead of Norwich City’s return to the big time.
“Probably Man United at Old Trafford - I would like that,” grinned the highly rated Lewis who was named in both the PFA and EFL Championship teams of the season.
“You would like a big team on the first day, just to get a bit of publicity and a good performance. That would be really nice.
“But any fixture is going to be big one because there are a lot of people in our team who it’ll be their first time playing in the Premier League.”
One of those players is Lewis who has emerged as one of the most talented left backs in the English game despite making his Norwich City debut only 18 months ago.
And is the 21-year-old up for the challenge of pitting his wits against the likes of Liverpool’s Champions Cup winner Salah and title-winning City star Silva next term?
“One hundred per cent,” he said. “With the winger position, there’s quite a big gulf between the Championship and Premiership in that position.
“When I’m playing for Northern Ireland and Norwich I try to get forward as much as possible, but I pride myself on trying to be a good defender first.
“I’ll be truly tested next season, but I’m looking forward to playing different teams, different styles and coming up with different solutions to problems.”
Luton-born Lewis, a former teenage athlete who qualifies through Belfast-born mum Katrina, admits his swift rise to Premier League status has been a “surreal journey”.
But he’s keen to add another shock to his CV by helping Northern Ireland reach next summer’s Euro 2020 finals at the expense of Germany or Holland.
A win in Estonia would make it maximum points from the opening three games in Group C ahead of Tuesday’s trip to Belarus.
“I’d love to get to a Euros or a World Cup - that would be so good,” said Lewis, who hopes the searing heat in Tallinn isn’t a factor.
Martin Reim’s men, who lost 2-0 in Belfast in March, are also in the midst of their club season, an advantage over the northern Irish, many of whom last played five weeks ago.
“All those things you’ve listed, they’re all going to come into account,” said Lewis. “The heat, they’re in their season.. we’ve got to expect a much tougher game.
“But we’ve put in some good preparation, we’ve had a couple of training camps and we were also training out in Austria, so hopefully we can put in a real top performance.”
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