Manchester City are ready to hand wonderkid Rico Lewis a staggering 400 per cent pay rise as they look to tie down the 18-year-old to a long-term contract.
Lewis has broken into Pep Guardiola 's plans this season in impressive fashion, making 14 appearances in all competitions. His performances this campaign also led to the surprise departure of Joao Cancelo on January transfer deadline day.
Guardiola is clearly a huge fan of the youngster, starting him in three successive games in all competitions. But there is an approaching worry for City, with Lewis' contract expiring at the end of next season.
According to the Daily Star, City are set to hand Lewis a bumper long-term deal in a bid to keep him at the Etihad Stadium. It is stated Lewis' new contract will include a whopping pay rise of 400 per cent.
He is expected to go from earning £5,000 per week to raking in £25,000 per week if he signs the deal. That will tie him down to City for the next five years, with the deal underlining his impact at City this season.
He has moved ahead of both Cancelo and Kyle Walker in the pecking order, leading to the former departing for Bayern Munich on loan. There is an option to make that move permanent in the summer, quite the change in status for Cancelo at City.
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Guardiola's readiness to allow Cancelo to leave is said to be a measure of how highly he rates Lewis. The City boss has previously made his admiration of the starlet clear, singling him out for his starring role in their Carabao Cup win over Liverpool last month.
“I had the feeling that without [Lewis] we could not play the way we played. I’m absolutely really impressed for his young age and today he played against a really senior team," Guardiola said.
“Its not about how intelligent he is with the ball, but without the ball. Today Cole and him, especially the first half, were incredible with and without the ball.
"Today we had the privilege to almost announce that this guy will have a big decade and will be an absolutely incredible player for Manchester City for the next years because he’s so intelligent, so humble, understands everything in one second and applies everything – he’s so so clever.
“We have an incredible right full-back with us for the next years. He always good but not against [a team like] Liverpool. He had Salah, Thiago and Robertson on his side. He is 18-years-old and the way he played was outstanding, he was the man of the match.”
Lewis will hope to retain his starting spot in the City side for the visit to Tottenham on Sunday evening. Guardiola's men can close the gap on Premier League leaders Arsenal to two points with a win.
