In the mind of Myles Lewis-Skelly, ceilings are there to be shattered.
How else do you explain a then 18-year-old starting both legs of Arsenal’s Champions League quarter-final demolition of Real Madrid last season, shackling Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo at the Bernabeu – and then scoring on his England debut against Albania in March 2025 in a man-of-the-match display?
His seamless adaptation to life on football’s biggest stages was as unusual as it was impressive – and also why his standout performances in the past week were of little surprise to figures inside Arsenal.
The reasons for Lewis-Skelly’s lack of game-time this season are nothing to do with a lack of trust or ability. He proved as much in his eye-catching display on Tuesday to help the Gunners down Atletico Madrid and reach a first Champions League final in 20 years.
However, it was the 3-0 victory in the Premier League against Fulham last weekend – just the 19-year-old’s third league start of the season – which rejuvenated the career of one this country’s most promising young players.
Largely on the sidelines prior to that game – a situation that will have surprised many given his remarkable breakthrough season last year – it is Lewis-Skelly’s mental fortitude and willingness to learn which has kept him in the thoughts of Mikel Arteta.
Myles Lewis-Skelly (left) has excelled since returning to the Arsenal starting XI in a midfield role, starring in the wins over Fulham and Atletico Madrid
‘We’ve always known what Myles can do… he’s so good,’ said Declan Rice (left) after the Gunners’ Champions League semi-final triumph
‘We’ve always known what Myles can do,’ said Declan Rice after the semi-final win over Atletico. ‘I remember last year when he stepped up at Real Madrid away in the Bernabeu at 18, that’s when I really thought, “Wow, we have a player”. And our manager this year, he’s been tough on him behind the scenes.
‘He’s not played as much as he would have wanted, but what I’ve noticed with him is that he’s actually kept his head down, and worked so hard. He does everything right, every day: in early, training, gym.
‘Now he’s got his chance and look, he’s ready, he’s taken it. And to be thrown in at the deep end in the Champions League semi-final and perform how he did is no surprise to me. He’s so good.’
Could he now make the cut for Thomas Tuchel’s England World Cup squad? You wouldn’t bet against him, the German a major supporter of this young talent.
And for Arsenal’s final three league matches in their pursuit of a first title in 22 years, starting with West Ham on Sunday, Arteta faces a midfield headache. Dropping Lewis-Skelly would feel mightily harsh on recent evidence.
Take the first five minutes of the Fulham match. Lewis-Skelly won an interception, turned his back into an opposition player to fend them off, before playing a ball into the box which nearly led to a Leandro Trossard goal.
That ability to wriggle away from players much larger than himself by using his back strength and positional awareness is a trait Arteta has recognised, and is said to value.
The 19-year-old’s ability to wriggle away from players much larger than himself by using his back strength and positional awareness is a trait Mikel Arteta is said to value
There’s no doubt Arteta rates Lewis-Skelly, though he has been demanding of him off the pitch, telling him to work on improving his game despite his accomplishments last season
More than anything, he showed a confidence on the ball. While Martin Zubimendi is often accused of looking for the safe option, unwilling to take risks, Lewis-Skelly is the opposite.
He wants to progress play with piercing through-balls and isn’t afraid of losing possession. And when Arsenal do lose the ball, he’s invariably one of the first to track back and try to win it back.
Arteta, who loathes to admit getting selection calls wrong, was surprisingly honest about Lewis-Skelly’s lengthy spell on the sidelines after the match.
When asked why it had taken him months to play Lewis-Skelly in midfield, he replied: ‘I don’t have a clue. Maybe I should have done it earlier, I don’t know. I have to do things when I believe that the player is ready, the team is ready and the opponent is the right one.
‘It was a big risk. If it works, it’s great. If we lost the game, I know what would have happened: “How do you play a kid at this age, in this scenario, in a position that he has not played all season?” I knew that, but I had the feeling it was the right game for him.
‘He fully deserves it… he stayed very humble, very focused and I knew he was ready.’
In fairness, Arteta had planned to play him in midfield against Wigan in the FA Cup in February, though a Riccardo Calafiori injury in the warm-up meant Lewis-Skelly was shunted to left back.
Still, as seen by the numbers, his move to midfield should have come much sooner. In the last two matches, in comparison to one of Arsenal’s main playmakers in Eberechi Eze, Lewis-Skelly played more passes or crosses into the box (3 v 0), made more passes into the opposition half (61 v 34) and had more total carries (24 v 18). It reflects his desire to always move the ball forward.
Lewis-Skelly looks to move the ball forward constantly and is happy to risk losing possession, adding a different dimension to Arsenal’s midfield
‘He’s kept his head down, and worked so hard,’ said Rice of Lewis-Skelly’s time on the sidelines. ‘He does everything right, every day: in early, training, gym’
There’s no doubt that Arteta rates Lewis-Skelly and it is understood he had told the youngster that everyone in the squad would have an important part to play this season, and that his time would come. Instead of sulking, he took the challenge on.
Arteta had been demanding of Lewis-Skelly off the pitch, telling him to work on improving his game despite his accomplishments last season.
From Arteta’s point of view, there’s an added risk to deploying a young player in the middle of the park compared to full back, while he is wedded to playing Zubimendi because of the control he offers.
Some perspective is also required around Lewis-Skelly’s time on the bench. Sources point to the teenager being far ahead of schedule in his career trajectory.
It was never Arteta’s plan to fully expose Lewis-Skelly to regular first-team football last season, injuries to Calafiori and Takehiro Tomiyasu paving the way for him to have a prolonged run in the team.
The fatigue of Zubimendi has played a part in Lewis-Skelly’s revival, too. The Spaniard has dropped off in form in the last two months, with Arteta keen to rest a player who started 33 of the first 34 league matches.
It leaves Arsenal with a big decision to make this summer. As a Hale End graduate, selling Lewis-Skelly would represent pure profit on the financial books, a tempting prospect to a club who splurged around £250million last summer.
However, the boyhood Arsenal fan is happy in north London, and the future of his close friend, Ethan Nwaneri, enduring a tough time on loan at Marseille, could play a role. If Nwaneri were to be sold, it’s highly likely that Arsenal would keep Lewis-Skelly.
As a Hale End graduate who joined Arsenal aged eight, selling Lewis-Skelly would represent pure profit on their books, a tempting prospect
Lewis-Skelly fends off Julian Alvarez during Arsenal’s 1-0 win in the second leg at the Emirates – he has never shied away from a big occasion
His journey has been aided by mother Marcia, who is protective of her son and has been key in his career.
She previously launched organisation No1Fan.club, a platform which provides tools for parents to help them navigate the complicated world of academy and grassroots football. Marcia even studied for FIFA’s agent exam to better understand the business side of the sport for the sake of her son. The pair were filmed dancing inside the Emirates after the victory over Atletico, with his grandmother present, too.
The signs of his quality have long been there, as far back as Arsenal’s US pre-season tour two years ago. Lewis-Skelly’s big audition came in a friendly against Bournemouth in Los Angeles. It was his only start across three matches on the tour, with Oleksandr Zinchenko preferred over him at left back.
But the youngster was one of the team’s standout players against the Cherries – and, more importantly, played at left back in exactly the way Arteta demanded.
He was inverting inside in the manner of Zinchenko, but appeared more defensively aware than his Ukrainian team-mate and got stuck into plenty of challenges.
In the academy, Lewis-Skelly played as a box-to-box midfielder. Upon graduating to the first-team squad last season, he was moulded into the left-back position because of the different demands of being a midfielder at a senior level.
Thrown into the first team last winter amid an Arsenal defensive injury crisis, Lewis-Skelly seized the opportunity and never looked back.
He became Arteta’s go-to left back, starting 15 league matches from December 2024 onwards. The future appeared bright.
Even during his difficult months on the sidelines at Arsenal earlier this season, Tuchel, at least initially, continued to show faith in Lewis-Skelly at international level. He started in England’s 2-0 World Cup qualifying win over Andorra in September.
England boss Thomas Tuchel is a big fan of Lewis-Skelly’s, and now faces a conundrum over whether to take him to the World Cup
For all the hype surrounding him, those closest to Lewis-Skelly believe that humility and discipline remain his greatest strengths
His last appearance came in England’s 5-0 victory over Latvia in October. Since then, he has not been called up to the senior squad, playing for the Under 21s instead in March.
Lewis-Skelly’s recent performances provide Tuchel with an intriguing conundrum: does he take a player with enormous potential and versatility, but one who has barely played in the league this season? On the evidence of late, the teenager deserves to be in the mix, at the very least.
For all the hype surrounding him, those closest to Lewis-Skelly believe that humility and discipline remain his greatest strengths.
And if his rise over the last two years has shown anything, it is that neither pressure nor expectation will slow him down.
