Credit: Imago

Harri Burton

Sat 16 August 2025 20:43, UK

Rico Lewis appears to be edging closer and closer to joining Nottingham Forest but Pep Guardiola must prevent a huge mistake in letting the deal go through.

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Guardiola previously threatened to quit over the size of his squad, and the manager has now doubled down on that point of view just a few weeks before the 1 September deadline.

The Citizens have added Rayan Cherki, Rayan Ait-Nouri, Tijjani Reijnders, and James Trafford to the first team, all of whom have made an instant impact, but it is important to appreciate the homegrown talents.

Oscar Bobb, Nico O’Reilly, and, of course, Phil Foden have all played different roles over the last few seasons, but Lewis appears to have split opinions over the last few weeks.

The negative opinions of our academy product continue to baffle me.

Having broken into the senior set-up during the 2022/23 season, the versatile 20-year-old was expected to have his best campaign yet, but now, Nottingham Forest are attempting to lure Lewis to the City Ground.

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The Reds are already closing in on James McAtee’s services, and that is a massive shame due to his technical ability on the ball, but it is understandable given his lack of minutes under Guardiola.

Lewis, on the other hand, has become a regular for the Catalan, even notching four goals and nine assists over the last two seasons, but reports would suggest that a move away might not be off the cards.

Just like being worried about Trafford’s development amid links with Gianluigi Donnarumma, I fear that these stories are more than just rumours, and that we are about to lose one of our most gifted academy products.

James McAtee appears set to join Nottingham Forest.

(Credit: Imago)

During City’s 4-0 demolition of Wolves on Saturday, 16 August, the 20-year-old started at right-back, but after assisting Erling Haaland‘s opener, it became clear just how much of a free role he had been given.

He completed 91 per cent of his passes, created one big chance, won 100 per cent of his ground duels, and won two fouls in decent areas, helping his teammates out exponentially [FotMob].

There is no predicting how high Lewis’ ceiling could reach in the future, but after watching him blossom into the player he is today, I can’t help but shake the feeling that selling him, even with a buy-back clause, would be a massive mistake.

Compared to full-backs in Europe’s top five leagues [FBref], he ranks in the 91st percentile for progressive passes and 87th percentile for touches in the attacking penalty area.