Playing full-back has always been fun for Rico Lewis.
A position that used to be one of the most fashionable in the XI was already undergoing its popularity makeover when he joined the Manchester City academy at Under-9s level, with Dani Alves leading the charge to show how exciting the role can be on a global stage and, closer to home, Pablo Zabaleta taking over from Micah Richards bombing down the flank.
After drawing the best out of Alves at Barcelona and Philipp Lahm and David Alaba at Bayern Munich, Pep Guardiola has made the Etihad a go-to destination for world-class full-backs. Many scoffed at the £50m paid for Kyle Walker in 2017 but City were laughing at the end of the season when they had won the Premier League with 100 points, and Joao Cancelo has proven to be a perfect complement for Walker over the last two seasons.
With Trent Alexander-Arnold at Liverpool and Reece James and Ben Chilwell at Chelsea, the full-back position is enjoying a golden age that 17-year-old Lewis is happy to see. While the Blues youngster isn't out to copy and paste their traits into his game, being able to watch somebody like Cancelo on a daily basis can only help.
"It is really popular now. Especially at City, I like it because full-back is quite an important position," he told M.E.N Sport.
"You see it in the first team that Cancelo is pretty influential in that position. Maybe I wouldn't enjoy it as much in another club but definitely at City I like it a lot because there is more involvement in the team.
"I mainly focus on myself because I'm the one who is playing. In a game, it's not like I can copy them because it's not realistic so I focus on myself but I definitely look at Cancelo because he plays in that full-back position where sometimes he moves into midfield as well, which is similar to what I do. I can see what he does, which helps, but it is mainly just myself."
Lewis has even more in common with Cancelo this season after the injury and personnel situation in the Under-18s and Under-23s caused the need for him to turn out at left-back in games including the UEFA Youth League and FA Youth Cup knockout competitions.
Being asked to play a different position isn't for everyone - some youngsters at City have not always reacted well to it - but there is an acceptance at the academy that versatility can only boost the chances young players have of making it in Guardiola's squad, and Lewis also likes the practice it gives him to work on his weaker foot.
As well as learning in matches, first-team training sessions being able to watch Cancelo and listen to the manager have proven useful.
"One of the things I always want to work on is my weak foot, constantly improving that. I always will try to improve that," he said.
"It's definitely come on, that's one of the pros of playing left-back. When you look and see how hard a team to get into it is, it is definitely important to be able to play more than one position.
"Because I played right-back for most of my time at City, playing on the left as well will help me in general and I think the coaches think that as well. Playing on the left and being able to come inside and use my right foot as well as my left will help me in the long term.
"I played it a few times in previous seasons but not like where I've been playing a few games in a row, it would have been the odd time but not like how I've been playing it now. On the left I come inside more because the right is my stronger foot and try to link with midfielders more, whereas on the right I can take a touch and break the line first time so I normally play with my winger more. I play with my preferred foot on each side.
"I see [Cancelo] in training a lot when they do a tactical and they will be talking about his position so then I can see it better. It feels a bit more personal in the training sessions listening to what Pep is saying and how he is doing it in the session and how it works."
Lewis - another local talent hailing as he does from Radcliffe - has adapted well to the adjustments required for Under-18s this season, so much so that he has also played for Brian Barry-Murphy in the EFL Trophy, UEFA Youth League and Premier League 2.
It has been a year of change in some respects for the academy with Barry-Murphy with the Under-23s and Ben Wilkinson with the Under-18s summer appointments, and expectations were high after Enzo Maresca and Carlos Vicens won their respective leagues last season before moving on to new opportunities.
The campaign has not been without difficulties - added to by a seemingly unendingly list of injuries in autumn - and City have disappointed in the big two knockout competitions, going out of Europe at the group stage and suffering a surprise defeat at Brighton in the FA Youth Cup.
Like the first team, both academy sides hit their stride in the league as winter approached though to leave them sitting top of their tables. Having become the first club to win the league at U18, U23 and senior level last season, they are on for the same again.
Just as Lewis has had to keep improving across his time in the academy to match the upward turn of the first team, the drive to match if not better the achievements of those that go before them is a handy motivator for the next crop of youngsters coming through.
"That's the same as the first team doing well, you want to do just as well if not better as a team," said Lewis.
"The coaches tell you that you can see the first team doing so well and developing that if you don't learn you get left behind so them doing well is an incentive to keep doing well yourself and improving yourself.
"It was disappointing with the Youth Cup but it is something we have to learn from. We felt we deserved to win but it just didn't go our way in the end but it hasn't made us fall back in the league, we have just kept on going. At the moment both the 18s and 23s are doing really well in the league. Everyone wants to win the league.
"At the start, the league was a new thing. Under-16s football didn't really mean much playing games whereas at the start of this year three points meant it meant something. We had to get used to that but now we've settled in and it is now about carrying on."
