Rico Lewis has turned his father into a football fan after making his breakthrough at Manchester City.
Lewis, 18, has been a revelation this season, since scoring on his first start for City in a 3-1 Champions League win over Sevilla in November. Since then, Lewis has made five further starts for City and is expected to keep his place for tomorrow's visit of Wolves to the Etihad Stadium.
His father, Rick Lewis, is a two-time British Thai boxing champion who owns a gym in north Manchester, where Rico built up the strength that has made him such a formidable competitor.
The right-back, who has impressed boss Pep Guardiola with his attitude, ability to slot into midfield and pass the ball, said his success had converted his dad into a football fan.
“He comes to as many as he can when he’s not working,” said Lewis. “I have to make sure I get him some tickets. He always loves watching. He got into football a lot more recently, because I've been playing.
“He never played football and never did anything to do with football, but now he is involved in it. I think he loves it just as much as I do, probably.”
Asked what his Thai boxing was like compared to his dad, Lewis said: “Probably not on par with his! That was just something I did when I was a bit younger. But it probably helped me a lot with balance and agility and stuff like that.”
He may be short in stature - 5ft 7in – but Lewis is big in character and has a robustness that saw him handle some rough treatment from Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg in City's 4-2 win over Tottenham.
It says everything about his mentality that Lewis shrugged off Hojbjerg's attempts to rough him up and played on until the 83rd minute, despite sustaining a knock after one brutal tackle. “I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time,” said Lewis.
“I think it happens to everyone in games. It happened to me and it's something you’ve just got to get on with. He was just telling me he wasn’t meaning to do it - whatever that means. I don’t really take much notice.”
Lewis said he had not had time to think about his rapid rise, but said fellow right-back Kyle Walker had helped him make the step up. “I haven’t really thought about it much,” said Lewis. “I’ve just played each game as it comes and just tried to do as much as I can.
“I never feel like it makes much sense to shout about it, because it can all go really quickly. While it’s happening, just stay level and just enjoy it.
“Every game for me is just a massive surprise. I don’t expect to play any games, so the games that I have been able to play already - it’s just overwhelming, really.”
On his relationship with Walker, Lewis said: “We’ve had talks about stuff and been pretty open about everything that happens between us, like selection and things like that.
“He’s really good at talking to me. I get on well with him. He just tells me to do what I do best and just tells me to play my game. I think that’s the best thing.”
