Arsenal youngster Myles Lewis-Skelly is becoming a first-team player, and has already earned the respect of his teammates and fans.
Lewis-Skelly has made five first-team appearances already after a standout pre-season campaign, and has been trusted in some of Arsenal’s biggest games.
The 18-year-old was substituted on in difficult circumstances against Manchester City and Liverpool in crucial games in the title race, and impressed with his composure in both games.
The teenager was also involved in some drama during the Man City clash, as Lewis-Skelly became the first player to ever receive a yellow card before making his Premier League debut.
Per Mertesacker praises Myles Lewis-Skelly for yellow card vs Man City
Lewis-Skelly was booked during an incident on the touchline as he was warming up as a substitute, with the youngster squaring up to Man City star Erling Haaland.
It was a heated affair between the two teams, but Lewis-Skelly stood up for his teammates despite being the most inexperienced player in the squad, and this has earned him praise from Arsenal academy director Per Mertesacker.
“He wants to be the best teammate he can be,” Mertesacker stated of Lewis-Skelly in an interview with Football.London.
“It is simply coming from those traits — how can he include himself and integrate himself into the first-team, how can he protect and be around his team-mates?”
Mertesacker then praised the character Lewis-Skelly showed against Man City.
“That is what he probably did there, first and foremost. He wasn’t looking at it [like] ‘I am facing this guy, it’s ‘Gabriel is my team-mate, I want to do anything to protect him’. Not that you necessarily need to do that on your debut, you don’t need to get booked before your debut!
“But he wants to bring something to the table. He’s not saying ‘show me love first and then I will bring something’. He is proactive in his pursuit of being the best team-mate he can be.”
Myles Lewis-Skelly’s surprise Arsenal emergence
Given his outstanding performances within the Hale End Academy, Lewis-Skelly’s first-team breakthrough does not come as much of a surprise, but the manner of it certainly has.
Few could have expected Lewis-Skelly to be trusted against top opposition in Man City, Paris Saint-Germain and Liverpool, but Mikel Arteta has defied critics to throw the youngster into such games.
Lewis-Skelly was even handed his Champions League debut before Ethan Nwaneri, who has been the focus of most of the attention surrounding the academy.
It is clear that both Arteta and Mertesacker rate Lewis-Skelly highly, and we can expect to see more of him in the coming months.
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