Myles Lewis-Skelly may still only be 20, but he has been around the Arsenal first team for quite some time now.
The teenager first broke into Mikel Arteta’s side in the 2024/25 season. He made the left-back spot his own that campaign before returning to his natural central midfield position in the back end of last season.
Lewis-Skelly has done enough to keep his place in the Arsenal side for now, ahead of more experienced, world-class options like Bruno Guimaraes and Martin Zubimendi.
Another player who Lewis-Skelly is keeping out of the side is Mikel Merino, but the former seems to rate the latter very, very highly.
Myles Lewis-Skelly says Mikel Merino is Arsenal’s most underrated player
Merino is definitely up there with the most underrated players in the Premier League and perhaps even in Europe.
The Spain international is not a guaranteed starter for club or country, but Arteta and Luis de la Fuente have still always had him around the squad. That speaks volumes.
Just this week, De la Fuente raved about Merino, suggested he was underappreciated and claimed that he is good enough to play for any team in world football.
Now, Myles Lewis-Skelly has named the Arsenal number 23 as the most underrated player at the club and admitted that he has been asking him for tips.
He said on the Premier League’s official YouTube channel: “The most underrated? Mikel, Mikel Merino. 100% man. That guy there, I don’t feel like he gets the credit he deserves.
“Even today, I was speaking to him about how he scores so many goals because I want to learn and add that to my game. The way he sees football, it’s really good to learn from. He should get the props he deserves.”
Myles Lewis-Skelly shows why he is going to the very top
It’s not enough to just have the talent in the modern game. Players need the right mentality too, and they should also be humble.
Lewis-Skelly admitting above that he was seeking advice from Merino about scoring goals shows exactly that.
The 20-year-old is starting games regularly for Arsenal and England, and he has been in great form too. Usually, players of that age think they have made it and stay relaxed, which is not the right approach at all.
Lewis-Skelly has identified that there is still a lot to improve in his game, and goalscoring is definitely something he should add if he wants to continue being an elite midfielder. Merino is the perfect player to seek that advice from.
As long as the Arsenal number 49 remains this humble and continues to have the hunger to learn, we are convinced he will go to the very top.