Myles Lewis-Skelly's future has been uncertain, not that anybody would have thought that after seeing his contribution for Arsenal against Manchester City
Myles Lewis-Skelly assisting for Arsenal
Myles Lewis-Skelly stamped his mark on the game(Image: TNT)
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Jamie Carragher insinuated Arsenal would be silly to sell Myles Lewis-Skelly after his Community Shield assist against Manchester City. The teenager has been heavily linked with an Emirates exit this season.
Recent reports even claimed Manchester United and Chelsea were offered the chance to sign the Gunners academy graduate. Regardless, he was deployed at the Principality Stadium in a midfield alongside £75m new signing Bruno Guimaraes and club captain Martin Odegaard, with Declan Rice starting on the bench.
After one minute, Lewis-Skelly dipped his shoulder, allowed the ball to roll past him and Phil Foden, before sliding a wonderful pass for Riccardo Calafiori, who fired a close-range effort past Gianluigi Donnarumma.
After seeing the teenager's brilliance, Carragher took to X to make it clear Arsenal must not part with him. The Liverpool legend said: "MLS role in that arsenal goal! Are Arsenal really looking to push him out," alongside a confused and shocked emoji.
TNT Sports co-commentator Ally McCoist was also blown away by Lewis-Skelly's calmness and skill under pressure. The Scotland legend said: "Now that pass there is ridiculous, brilliant.
"What a pass. He lets it through him brilliantly, and then just reverses it right in between the two centre-backs. That might be the earliest statement I have ever seen from a player demanding not to be sold. Lewis-Skelly, that was just brilliant, honestly."
Earlier this week, Carragher also admitted he was shocked about learning of Arsenal's supposed willingness to part with the England international. “I still can’t believe it,” he said on the latest episode of The Overlap Fan Debate. “Obviously, last season wasn’t great for him for the whole season, but when a young player has already put in performances like I’ve seen him put in at the Bernabeu - maybe over a year or 18 months ago, at left-back, he was running the game at the Bernabeu - and then his performance in the final in central midfield against Paris Saint-Germain.
“You can’t play at that level unless you’re pretty special at that age. All young players have ups and downs. Last season he didn’t play as much as he probably would have liked. But, as you just said, his ceiling is so high for the performances he’s already put in as a 20-year-old kid. I couldn’t believe that Arsenal would even think about letting him go.”
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In a recent press conference, Arteta seemingly refused to rule out an exit for the England international. After Lewis-Skelly tapped the Arsenal badge in celebration when he scored in a friendly against Como, Arteta said: "It's good to be emotional after scoring, you should be emotional when you score a goal.
"He's a very emotional player, you see with his gestures on the pitch. I'm not going to talk about speculation. If there is speculation about our players, it's a good sign. That means our players attract attention and are doing a good job."
The Arsenal manager did go on to praise Lewis-Skelly's displays in pre-season, adding: "He's had a really good preseason.
Manchester City's Erling Haaland, center, and Arsenal's Myles Lewis-Skelly challenge for the ball during the FA Community Shield final soccer match between Arsenal and Manchester City in Cardiff, Wales, Sunday, Aug.16, 2026
Lewis-Skelly was at the heart of Arsenal's first goal(Image: AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
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"We asked him to play in a different position because he played more as a No. 6 - we obviously lacked midfielders from international duty - and I think he had a really consistent preseason."
At the start of his time in the Gunners' first team, Lewis-Skelly primarily featured from left-back. Calafiori and Piero Hincapie's arrival resulted in him being stuck on the bench until Arteta began deploying him in central midfield towards the end of last season.
It was there he started in the Champions League final against Paris Saint-Germain for Arsenal, where he impressed with his display against Vitinha, Joao Neves and Fabian Ruiz.
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