Back in September at the end of a particularly fractious draw between Manchester City and Arsenal, Erling Haaland saw a 17-year-old debutant intent on squaring up to him and enquired, ‘who the f*** are you?’.
Now, both he and the Premier League are fully aware of Myles Lewis-Skelly, a mega-talent whose breakthrough has been quietly anticipated by Arsenal insiders.
As seen in his three consecutive league starts of late, against Everton, Crystal Palace and Ipswich Town, the now 18-year-old has the physicality, defensive acumen and ball-playing skill of a player far beyond his tender years. It’s stirred the fanbase, who are already clamouring about just how far their homegrown gem – he joined the Gunners aged eight – can go.
His rapid rise, including a shift at the start of this season from central midfield to left back amid the club’s defensive injury woes, has significantly altered Lewis-Skelly’s trajectory from a squad player to starter in his first senior campaign.
So much so, £42million summer signing Riccardo Calafiori had to contend with sitting on the bench for the Ipswich game after returning from injury. The Italian now faces a waiting game as to whether he can wrestle his spot back against Brentford on New Year’s Day.
Mail Sport understands Lewis-Skelly is in line for a bumper new long-term deal. He signed his first professional contract aged 17 in September last year, and is believed to be on a three-year deal which expires in summer 2026.
Myles Lewis-Skelly is making waves after breaking into Arsenal’s first-team set-up
Erling Haaland asked ‘who the f***’ he was on his debut – nobody is asking that question now
His mother Marcia is protective and has been key to managing his rise through the ranks
It’s understood that Arsenal are looking to secure the promising defender’s future to ward off interest from elsewhere, rather than risk letting his contract run until the final season, as they want to ensure players feel rewarded for their performances and progression in the squad.
His improved terms would not be a surprise to outsiders who have monitored the Hale End academy in recent years. One agent, who was tracking both Lewis-Skelly and fellow Arsenal starlet Ethan Nwaneri, 17, found his eyes drawn to one of them.
‘When Ethan and Myles were doing well in the academy, and Ethan was getting a lot of the attention, a couple of us were focusing on Myles,’ he tells Mail Sport.
‘I was like, “he’s the kid to get”. He had the better potential because of being a box-to-box midfielder and his athleticism. He can play in so many positions, so his potential for making it to first-team level was greater than Ethan’s.
‘Ethan is exceptional as a No 10, but you’re banking on him playing that position. Also when you look at the Arsenal first-team squad, it was obvious that the route in through left back was much more possible than attacking midfield, where there’s a number of big names.’
He has the same agent as Gunners legend Ian Wright and is cautious of off-field opportunities, with his playing career the sole focus.
Lewis-Skelly, born on Arsenal’s home soil in Islington, initially made headlines by picking up a Premier League booking before he had played in a Premier League game, in that fiery 2-2 draw at the Etihad in September.
The versatile, athletic 18-year-old has impressed Mikel Arteta and is in line for a bumper deal
He has come through Arsenal’s Hale End academy with fellow highly rated teen Ethan Nwaneri
His determination, physicality, and competitive edge have helped him adapt to senior football
Sources praise Lewis-Skelly’s athletic ability, meaning he can compete with older players
With 10-man Arsenal frantically trying to defend a 2-1 lead in the second half, Lewis-Skelly told goalkeeper David Raya to fall to the ground to waste a little time — cheeky, if not quite in the spirit of things, but also a microcosm of the competitive edge that lies behind a teenager who is jovial and smiley off the pitch. He was invited to London Fashion Week by adidas for an event at the Emirates Stadium, joining team-mates Calafiori and Declan Rice in the front row.
He rarely takes a step back, even at the end of his senior debut when he had come off the bench and confronted Haaland at full time. In response to Haaland’s inquisitive remark, Lewis-Skelly did not take a step back and stared down the 6ft 4in Norwegian, who has six inches in height on him.
Whether it’s receiving a forearm to the face at a corner kick by Crystal Palace’s Jean-Philippe Mateta or shoving Kalvin Phillips of Ipswich Town, Lewis-Skelly transforms into another persona when in the line of battle.
When asking sources close to the player about his attributes, ‘athleticism’, or similar terms, are the words often used. One source said: ‘He was so strong and fast in the academy. He’s also down to earth.’
His strength derives from a solid frame and natural athleticism, rather than an emphasis on weights. It has seen him hold his own against players much older and bigger than himself, and gives Arsenal two full backs not to be messed with when paired with the similarly robust Jurrien Timber.
Lewis-Skelly’s big audition in front of Mikel Arteta came in Arsenal’s first US pre-season friendly over the summer, against Bournemouth. It was his only start in those three games, and he was one of the team’s standout players – and, more importantly, playing at left back in exactly the way Arteta demands.
He was inverting inside in the manner of Oleksandr Zinchenko, who helped to take Arsenal from top-four contenders to title challengers in that role when he arrived in 2022. But the Ukrainian is suspect defensively and lost Arteta’s faith last season. Lewis-Skelly blends attack and defence perfectly, getting stuck into challenges with intent.
In the academy, Lewis-Skelly played as a box-to-box midfielder centrally or on the left of midfield. But now he has a new role.
In the academy he played as a box-to-box or left midfielder, but Arteta uses him as a left-back
Senior FA figures are keeping tabs on him, with left-back having become a problem for England
A Premier League scout recalls what he saw of Lewis-Skelly last season in Arsenal’s academy.
‘He’s very athletic. He was faster, stronger, more agile than the others,’ he tells Mail Sport. ‘He’s also level-headed, grounded, just wants to play football. He didn’t think or act that he had made it.
‘It was clear to me that, going forward, left back would be his position in the first team because of the different demands of Under 21s to first team with the physicality. It’s a totally different game.’
Through his grandparents, Lewis-Skelly is eligible to play for Barbados and even trained with their national team aged just 14, but has come through the England age-group pathway, appearing at four different levels and making his Under 19 debut in September in Croatia.
And more may soon come. As my colleague Sami Mokbel reported this week, senior figures at the FA have their eyes on Lewis-Skelly with a view to a senior call-up — with left back a problem position for England right now.
A promotion to the Under 21s would be the logical first step but plenty of players have skipped a level or two in recent years, including Kobbie Mainoo and Marcus Rashford. With the 2026 World Cup on the horizon and 18 months to prove he is a better option than the likes of Luke Shaw or Lewis Hall… who knows.
His journey intertwines with close friend Nwaneri. Both have risen up the Hale End ranks from the Under 9 age group, and are friends away from football, too, with major similarities in terms of their ascent.
They debuted for the Under 18s on the same night, aged just 14, and both scored in a 6-1 win over Reading. Lewis-Skelly’s goal, having picked the ball up 25 yards out before waltzing past three defenders and whacking the ball into the top left corner, went viral on social media. The pair were also at the same trial for a scholarship at £17,500-a-year St John’s School in Enfield, north London. The school wanted both, but opted for Nwaneri due to space constraints.
Regular opportunities may be hard to come by when Arteta has a fully fit squad available
Arsenal have many talented full-backs including Riccardo Calafiori and Jurrien Timber
Often it has been Nwaneri who has enjoyed the lion’s share of the limelight. In the first 15 league games of this season, Nwaneri came off the bench eight times. Lewis-Skelly just featured twice.
Nwaneri also stole the headlines for his performances in the Carabao Cup where he has scored three goals in three starts, including a world-class strike against Preston which will take some beating as Arsenal’s goal of the season.
But while Nwaneri has featured only for the first team, Lewis-Skelly still turns out for the academy sides. For the Under 21s, he played in the two opening Premier League 2 matches in August and in the EFL Trophy against MK Dons in October.
It is said he slotted in with no complaints and easily assimilated with his old academy team-mates. That humility has bode well for him when his big break arose earlier in December, a shedload of injuries to the Gunners backline causing Arteta to look at alternative options. Takehiro Tomiyasu, Calafiori, and Zinchenko were all injured, Jurrien Timber wasn’t fully fit and Kieran Tierney remained out of favour with Arteta.
That’s where Lewis-Skelly came in, starting in the 2-0 win over Monaco in the Champions League on December 11. His performance gained plaudits. There was an air of calmness on the ball, as well as an impressive through ball to Gabriel Jesus to create Bukayo Saka’s opening goal. Team-mates crowded him in adulation, as they often have this season particularly because of his eagerness to learn.
Saka, his Hale End idol, is a mentor, while Rice, who knows a thing or two about bursting onto the Premier League scene at a young age and having to handle a change of position has also taken him under his wing, and said after the Ipswich win: ‘He can go to the top, this kid is just very, very special. For an 18-year-old to be that good, that comfortable, that strong — it was like he was built in a lab.
‘I said to him the other day that it’s just ridiculous how good he is.
‘He’s so level-headed, he’s got a great family around him. I know his mum looks after him really well and all the boys at the training ground do, too.’
Bukayo Saka, Lewis-Skelly’s mentor, says the teenager has a great family unit around him
The youngster completed 58 of his 59 passes against Ipswich, made three tackles, and created two chances
Lewis-Skelly has made a strong case to continue playing. Also in that Ipswich match, he completed 58 of his 59 passes, made three tackles, won three fouls, created two chances and won a massive nine duels – the same as Timber, and more than team-mates Gabriel (six) and William Saliba (four).
His pass completion as a whole in his five Premier League appearances is 94 per cent, third-best in the top flight behind Curtis Jones and Saliba. He is the only player in the division to have attempted at least five tackles this season and won all of them.
His journey has been helped by his mother Marcia, who is protective of her son and been key in his career. She launched No1Fan.club over the summer – a platform which provides tools and surveys for parents to help them navigate the complicated world of academy and grassroots football.
Marcia took an MBA in Football Business, then studied for and passed Fifa’s football agent exam to better understand the landscape for the sake of her son.
Arteta cited the family support Lewis-Skelly has after after the Ipswich win.
‘He’s a special character… he’s well ahead of his age, and so mature,’ he said. ‘He has a really good environment, a really good family and then he has qualities that adapt very well to our way of playing.’
Of course, with Calafiori back, Zinchenko and Jakub Kiwior needing minutes and Timber also strong at left back, Lewis-Skelly will have a job on his hands locking down that role in the second half of his debut season. But whatever happens, he has shown he has a big future ahead.
