Comments by England manager Thomas Tuchel have sparked a mass Premier League transfer brawl to sign an Arsenal star in January.
The Gunners went into this international break in a strong position, on top of the league table, and four points clear of Manchester City. They suffered a 2-2 draw to Sunderland last time out, but still look comfortable, and Mikel Arteta will now take the international break to recover his squad for the Christmas period.
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However, one name that was a surprise omission from international duty was Myles Lewis-Skelly. He wasn’t selected by England manager Thomas Tuchel for the first time since Tuchel took the job, and now faces a real dilemma ahead of the World Cup in the summer.
Why did Tuchel leave Lewis-Skelly out?
Tuchel explained his decision to leave Lewis-Skelly out of the squad, as he selected the likes of Nico O’Reilly, Alex Scott and Jude Bellingham instead. The Arsenal star was left out, alongside Nottingham Forest winger Morgan Gibbs-White, and Ruben Loftus-Cheek.
The England boss told Sky Sports: “Myles was a very good team-mate and played for us in the last camp in the World Cup qualifier in Riga, so was Ruben Loftus-Cheek, so was Morgan Gibbs-White.
“But I said last time there is a component to it and that is about competition and performance and the door is always open for guys who perform on a high level regularly. Myles, Ruben and Morgan got out-performed by O’Reilly, Alex Scott and Jude Bellingham in their positions.
“Myles simply needs more starts, more minutes. Now came a time when O’Reilly had so many starts in that position, so he is slightly ahead for this camp.”
Premier League clubs want to sign Arsenal star in January
Amid Tuchel’s recent comments suggesting that Lewis-Skelly needs more game time than he is getting at Arsenal this season, reports have emerged suggesting that the defender could leave in January in search of more minutes so that he can get into the World Cup squad.
He has been playing behind the likes of Riccardo Calafiori and Piero Hincapie in recent weeks, and several Premier League clubs are now scrambling to sign the talented 18-year-old in the January transfer window.
According to the Daily Briefing, Everton, Fulham, West Ham, and Nottingham Forest are all monitoring Lewis-Skelly’s situation at Arsenal. If the defender requests a loan move in January to get more game time, he could move to one of these clubs, and that would potentially get him back into Tuchel’s squad ahead of the World Cup.
Click here to see every Arsenal player who was selected for international duty this month.