Arteta sees Lewis-Skelly speculation as ‘a good sign’ for Arsenal

Syndicated reporting provided by Stats Perform and reviewed by the SoccerNews editorial team.

Mikel Arteta believes the speculation around Myles Lewis-Skelly’s Arsenal future is a “good sign” for the club.

Chelsea and Manchester United have been linked with a move for the 19-year-old, whose game time could be reduced following the signing of Bruno Guimaraes.

Lewis-Skelly has made 75 senior appearances for the Gunners, providing five assists and scoring once while playing as a left-back and midfielder.

The teenager struggled for minutes under Arteta last season, but staked his claim for a starting role towards the end of the campaign.

Aged 19 years and 246 days, Lewis-Skelly became the second-youngest Englishman ever to start a Champions League final, only behind Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold in 2018 (19y 231d).

He also has three starts in Champions League semi-finals, with only two players starting more such games as a teenager (Iker Casillas and Kanu, four each).

During the 2024-25 season, Lewis-Skelly also became the youngest England player to score on their senior debut (18y 176d), surpassing Marcus Rashford’s record of 18 years and 209 days v Australia in May 2016.

The Arsenal academy graduate scored in their pre-season clash with Como on Wednesday and celebrated with emotional gestures towards the home faithful, which Arteta did not read too much into.

“It’s good to score a goal, you should be emotional when you score a goal,” said Arteta of the celebration.

Last night’s Player of the Match…

— Arsenal (@Arsenal) August 13, 2026

“He’s a very emotional player. I remember when he did all the gestures on the pitch [last season]. I’m not going to talk about any speculation.

“If there is a speculation about our player, it’s a good sign. That means that we attract attention and they’re doing a good job.

“I think he had a really good pre-season. I think we asked him to play in a different position, because he played more as a six, because we lacked central midfielders, obviously with international duties, and I think he had a really consistent pre-season.”

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