Paul Merson believes Manchester United would have been a significantly better side had they signed Myles Lewis-Skelly in the summer.
The former Arsenal man was speaking on Sky Sports about the state of things at Old Trafford, amid Lisandro Martinez’s post-match comments after their Atletico Madrid defeat, where the defender took aim at United’s higher-ups.
“They went for Elliott Anderson, they went for certain other players, and they got blown out of the water,” Merson said. “That’s not Jason Wilcox’s fault. He can only work with what he’s got and can only spend what he’s got. And at the moment, you know, everybody else is buying already.
“Like Lewis-Skelly and Hall would have improved Man United, one million percent. They’re very good players. They would have been good signings.”
Myles Lewis-Skelly was never leaving Arsenal
Merson’s general point is bang on. Of course Lewis-Skelly would improve United. Michael Carrick’s side spent the summer looking for a left-back and multiple central midfielders, and Myles Lewis-Skelly is one of the very few players in the country who ticks both boxes at once. He was heavily linked with a move as a result.
However, the noise never had much substance behind it. Lewis-Skelly absolutely didn’t want to leave Arsenal, and Mikel Arteta had no intention of letting him go just months after starting him in a Champions League final.
The reported asking price at the time was around £45million, which looks frankly ridiculous now. Look at what English midfielders have been going for over the past couple of windows and that figure barely gets you into the conversation, let alone to the front of the queue.
For a 20-year-old who is already a senior international, versatile across two positions and under contract at the club he grew up supporting, Arsenal would have surely wanted twice as much as that.
And it goes to show how much money it might save Arsenal in the long run. With Declan Rice aged 27 and Bruno Guimaraes 28, there’s a clear pathway for Lewis-Skelly to take a midfield spot at the Emirates for years to come. While other clubs spent the window getting “blown out of the water” trying to buy a central midfielder, Arsenal already had one coming through the door for nothing.