Name: Jamal Lewis

Club: Norwich City

Date of Birth: 25 January 1998

Position: Left-back

JAMAL LEWIS - HIS CAREER SO FAR

At 22 years of age, it's pretty safe to say that Jamal Lewis is still pretty much at the very beginning of his career. And despite Norwich City's eventual demise in the Premier League, seeing how they are now officially heading back to the Championship, the youngster has had quite a decent season in the top-flight throughout 2019/20.

But where did it all begin for him? Ever since he was just a kid, Lewis was extremely talented and bound to end up in professional sports sooner rather than later. So much so that as a youngster, he was competing in athletics at the national level for his age-group, even representing England Schools and finishing second in the English Schools' U17 cross-country in 2014. His first footballing steps, however, were made with Luton Town.

Lewis would spend his early footballing years in their academy, even managing to win the Aarau Masters, a European 5-a-side U11 Championship back in 2009, which is where his talents started to show properly. Soon afterwards, he was scouted and eventually signed by his current team, Norwich City, in 2014. At first, of course, Lewis was still a part of their academy, but would quickly progress through the ranks.

By 2016, he was already in the U23 side and at the end of that 2016/17 season, he would pen a contract until 2021. His senior bow arrived in November 2017 when he came on as a substitute against Brentford. And needless to say, he hasn't looked back ever since, becoming a big part of the Canaries and one of the hottest young talents in the team. In 2018, he was named the EFL Young Player of the Month for September and a couple of months after that, as recognition of his outstanding work and development, Norwich rewarded him with another deal, this time running until June 2023.

So far, he has made a total of 100 appearances for their first-team, scoring two goals and assisting four. Due to his ever-increasing popularity, Lewis is now reportedly a very sought-after prospect on the market and with Norwich going down to the Championship again, he may very well leave to greener pastures quite soon.

Only time will tell.

TRANSFER LATEST

According to the latest transfer news, Liverpool have shown a lot of interest in Lewis recently as Jurgen Klopp is looking to strengthen his bench and increase the overall squad depth. Of course, with Norwich relegated and with the Reds' prestige, it should be quite a straightforward deal for the Merseyside squad.

However, Lewis has to keep in mind that he would very much come as a second-choice left-back behind Andrew Robertson. There have been some transfer rumours suggesting that this might indeed be the biggest stumbling block for the deal but it's difficult to imagine the 22-year-old turning down the chance to play for Klopp.

We'll have to wait and see if any other Liverpool transfer rumours pop out in the coming weeks of the summer window but if the Reds persist, it's likely we see Lewis in a different shirt quite soon.

PLAYER PROFILE

Lewis is very much a very attacking-minded full-back who can often be seen blazing down the left flank and taking his markers head-on. He is very dynamic and extremely pacey, which enables him to be a big threat to the opposition in those isolated scenarios out wide. An additional strength of his is definitely his technical side.

He may not have been one of the best full-backs across the Premier League roster but for a player playing in a largely underperforming team, Lewis did well to stand out whenever he could. Defensively, he is also pretty solid and combines it with good movement and positioning to snuff out the danger. Of course, his pace can often get him out of trouble even if he makes a mistake. But at such a tender age, it's perfectly normal that there are at least some issues in his game.

Still, with the sheer talent under his belt and hard work, Lewis can definitely go far.