Young [Arsenal](https://goonernews.com/) left back Myles Lewis-Skelly has been one of the team’s academy success stories over the past couple of seasons, though there have been many such success stories, given how great the Gunners are at finding and giving opportunities to young players.
Lewis-Skelly was a starter at left back down the stretch of the 2024/25 season, including in the Champions League knockouts, but the rough and tumble youngster has been discarded in the 2025/26 Premier League starting lineups for Riccardo Calafiori, who has been one of the best in England this season.
With the World Cup looming large and Lewis-Skelly likely outside of Thomas Tuchel’s plans, the transfer rumor mill has been rampant with the idea that Lewis-Skelly could try to leave Arsenal in order to pursue real playing time at the club level before the 2026 World Cup.
In the latest transfer rumor, Caught Offside reports that local London rivals West Ham are interested in plucking Lewis-Skelly away from the Gunners, as the Hammers want to see if they can make an opportunistic steal after Tuchel made it clear MLS needs more minutes in order to play for the England national team.
Arsenal fans can only laugh at the notion that Lewis-Skelly, one of the most promising young players in the country, would turn down a chance to play for Arsenal in order to play for West Ham.
Lewis-Skelly is only 19. That’s crazy young for a defender. And Arsenal already showed to him that he can be important to their team, as they entrusted him with starts against literal Champions League winners PSG last season in the semifinals.
He’s not going anywhere and certainly not to lowly West Ham, one of the laughingstocks of European football, in the hopes that Tuchel, of all people, will give him little scraps for going to one of the worst teams in England.
Joe Soriano is the editor of _The Trivela Effect_ and a FanSided Hall of Famer who has covered world football since 2010. He’s led top digital communities like _The Real Champs_ (Real Madrid) and has run sites covering Tottenham, Liverpool, Juventus, and Schalke. He also helped manage _NFL Spin Zone_ and _Daily DDT,_ covering the NFL and pro wrestling.