Myles Lewis-Skelly is emerging as a late star in Arsenal’s season and Mikel Arteta has now opened up on why he didn’t play as much earlier in the season.
Talk has been rife that Lewis-Skelly might even end up leaving but in recent weeks, ‘MLS’ has starred in a new midfield role.
Now, eyes are on Lewis-Skelly making his way into the World Cup squad with England and also getting a start in the Champions League final.
Interestingly, Mikel Arteta has now revealed just why he had to treat the youngster a bit different this season.
Mikel Arteta shares why Myles Lewis-Skelly didn’t play as much for Arsenal
It was a strange situation in seeing Lewis-Skelly not play as much earlier in the season. Indeed, it appeared his time at the club could be up.
However, things have turned around and Arteta told his pre-West Ham press conference
“I need to push Myles Lewis-Skelly hard, to understand how he’s feeling. He’s a boy that was playing with the under-18s, under-21s, sometimes he wasn’t even playing, he was playing in a different position. He comes in, he comes through, he plays in a completely different position that he’s ever played before, he’s exceptional, everybody’s talking about him, he goes to the national team,” Arteta said of Lewis-Skelly.
“He comes back from pre-season, and then he starts to realise that maybe he’s not going to be a starter. So you need to go through those emotions, not only you, but the people next to you as well, the people that are giving you advice, and you have to navigate through that, and that’s not easy, I understand that.
“It’s easy when it goes so well for you, but when it goes the other way, the temptation is going to start to point to people, and I need to understand that, and I need to guide him, and I need to give him my perspective, the reasons why he wasn’t playing that much, and he took it on board.
“Not the first one, after three or four times, I think he realised, OK, I think if it’s not this way, I don’t think it’s going to happen.”
Myles Lewis-Skelly might save Arsenal millions this summer
For all the talk of Arsenal going for a new midfielder this summer, it feels like the Gunners have actually stumbled upon the equivalent of a new signing.
Lewis-Skelly’s performances in recent weeks in the centre of the park have been that of a seasoned Premier League player.
🤔 Who starts the Champions League final in midfield: Myles Lewis-Skelly or Martin Zubimendi?
He passes forward, takes the ball under pressure and allows Arsenal to quickly initiate attacks.
At the minute, he’s looking every bit the £50m plus midfielder that Arsenal are said to be looking to bring in.
And right now, Arsenal might be wise to invest that money elsewhere and really go all in on Lewis-Skelly and his new midfield role.
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