‘Unplayable’ Arsenal academy ace featured on list of future stars

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Arsenal may well have a future star on their hands in Myles Lewis-Skelly.

Arsenal youngster Myles Lewis-Skelly has been included in the 2023 edition of The Guardian’s Next Generation list.

This annual list presents the most promising youth prospect, born between 1st September 2006 and 31st August 2007, on the books at each Premier League club. These first years scholars all stand a great chance of making the grade at the highest level.

The Arsenal entrant in this year’s list, Lewis-Skelly, has been with the Gunners since he was nine-years-old. Now 17, the midfielder is impressing on a consistent basis.

Jack Wilshere, who now coaches the under-18s side at the Emirates Stadium, has previously been full of praise for Lewis-Skelly. As quoted by The Athletic, Wilshere said that the teenager can “do things you can’t coach.” He has also previously called him “unplayable.”

Arsenal certainly have high hopes for the Hale End academy ace, as they handed him his first professional contract earlier this month. Upon putting pen to paper, the youngster said, “it means the world to me, my boyhood club ever since I can remember. To play for Arsenal, I’m truly speechless,” as quoted by the north London club’s official website.

Mikel Arteta has his eye on Lewis-Skelly

Academy director Per Mertesacker has clearly seen the potential in Lewis-Skelly, and Mikel Arteta is paying attention as well. He was invited to join the first team training camp in Dubai back in December, when the manager will have gotten the chance to take a closer look at him. 

Lewis-Skelly has all the makings of a player Arteta would appreciate. He is excellent with the ball at his feet, comfortable passing it around in tight areas, and has the physicality to win his duels. He is able to make a difference at both ends of the pitch and plays with a great deal of maturity.

Plenty of academy starlets have made the grade at Arsenal in recent years, with Bukayo Saka, Eddie Nketiah, Emile Smith Rowe, and Reiss Nelson all part of the current first team squad. Lewis-Skelly could be the next homegrown hero to come off the production line.