Manchester City star reveals martial arts ability that will stop him from being ‘targeted’ on the pitch

A background in combat sports and Thai martial arts will aid one of Manchester City’s breakthrough stars when he is ‘targeted’ on the pitch, it has been explained.

Rico Lewis has been one of the many breakthrough talents within Manchester City’s youth academy to successfully make the step up from the club’s Elite Development Squad into Pep Guardiola’s first-team system on a regular basis.

Having been entrusted during the second-half of Manchester City’s historic Treble-winning season of 2022/23, Rico Lewis has gone from strength to strength and operated in a multitude of roles under the club’s Catalan head coach.

From mastering the inverted full-back position in the second-half of the 22/23 campaign, Lewis has gone on to star further forward for the club, taking on the attacking midfield role in high-profile UEFA Champions League matches and away to Arsenal in the Premier League.

But it has been Lewis’ maturity at such a young age that has benefitted him the most in being shown faith by Pep Guardiola consistently, and the player largely credits his ability to go head-to-head with physically superior players to a background in combat sports.

Speaking during a new conversation with England Football on his rise to the very top of the professional game, Rico Lewis has credited his background in martial arts as an educational factor that will aid him on the pitch for Manchester City now and in future.

“I was doing Muay Thai a lot when I was growing up and I think that helped me with my agility and my balance, which is really important to the way I play,” said Lewis.

“I love sports in general but I used to combine the two all the time until I had to pick football when I was about nine or 10. I’m smaller than most players around me and I think doing the Muay Thai helped me develop a mentality where I knew I could hold my own.”

He continued, “I’m fouled a lot and sometimes I’m targeted because I’m smaller but in my head I take it as a compliment, which might be due to the discipline I’ve learned. I don’t react to things in negative ways.

“It’s still something I enjoy doing now. I think it’s even more disciplined than football and you can also take the same values into football. You train as if you’re playing a game. I’m lucky I was in the gym as a young kid and I was always there while my dad was teaching it.”

With Kyle Walker ageing with each passing season, and Manchester City showing more dependancy on an inverted full-back system in bigger contests, Rico Lewis is expected to see his opportunities further increase during the forthcoming season.

How many times Rico Lewis takes on the role of a traditional right-back remains to be seen, with the player himself having already admitted in previous interviews that he holds an ambition to feature further forward and in midfield for Manchester City in future.