Former Premier League defender Micah Richards has heaped praise on Arsenal midfielder Myles Lewis-Skelly following his performance on Nations League duty with England.
The 19-year-old started the 3-0 win over Czechia at Wembley Stadium. He got the nod alongside Elliot Anderson and produced a sublime display over 90 minutes.
Lewis-Skelly impressed with a passing accuracy of 91 percent last night. He won six duels, completed three dribbles and made a couple of recoveries for the Three Lions.
Speaking on The Rest is Football podcast, Richards said that Lewis-Skelly is one of his favourite players.
He described him as ‘very good’ and ‘unbelievable’ and feels he is too good to be on the bench.
Richards said: “Myles Lewis-Skelly is one of my favourite players. Technically, he’s very good, he’s strong and fast, he has football intelligence and he’s still so young as well.
“I remember his performance against Real Madrid a couple of seasons ago [in the quarter-finals of the Champions League], and I hadn’t seen anything quite like it from someone that young.
“Obviously Riccardo Calafiori has been playing left-back for Arsenal, and they’ve brought in Bruno Guimaraes to the midfield on top of Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard.
“But Lewis-Skelly is too good to be on the bench. He’s one of the best young players I’ve seen at his age, and that’s not an exaggeration. He’s unbelievable, such a delight.”
Lewis-Skelly’s future was a topic of speculation this summer. He was reportedly offered to some of the Premier League’s biggest clubs, including Chelsea and Manchester United.
In the end, nothing materialised. The youngster had a good pre-season as a central midfielder and carried that form into the Premier League, partnering Declan Rice in the early weeks.
Manager Mikel Arteta decided to bench him for Bruno Guimaraes during the last trip to Brighton & Hove Albion, but that greatly misfired, with the Brazilian struggling to cope with the intensity.
Guimaraes has since had a long journey with Brazil to play friendlies against Australia and India. With the extended travel, he is most likely to start on the bench against Leeds United on Saturday.
Regardless, we would prefer Lewis-Skelly to partner a well-rested Declan Rice against Leeds. Arsenal need a statement win on the back of a humbling 3-0 loss to Brighton at the Amex Stadium.
Stats from Transfermarkt.com & Sofascore.com