Over the past few years, Arsenal fans have been waiting to see both Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ethan Nwaneri get a chance in the first team.
Previously, Mikel Arteta had been quite reluctant to promote Hale End Academy players into the first team fold at Arsenal – Emile Smith Rowe was the last player to make the jump.
However, both Lewis-Skelly and Nwaneri have undeniable talent, and Arteta has seemingly assessed that the pair are ready to contribute to success.
To that end, 18-year-old Lewis-Skelly has already made six appearances for the first team this season, playing 134 minutes in total.
Ian Wright wants to see Lewis-Skelly play more often, but will be aware that Arteta has his own plan.
Myles Lewis-Skelly could have become Britain’s next Andy Murray
That being said, in a recent interview alongside Nwaneri, Lewis-Skelly revealed why he may have been close to not becoming a footballer after all.
The duo were asked what sports they were best at other than football, and Lewis-Skelly shared the split decision he had to make in his younger years.
READ MORE: Ethan Nwaneri admits Arsenal teammate Gabriel Martinelli has one attribute he’d love to have
Nwaneri was first to reply, saying that basketball is his other passion.
He said: “For me, I say basketball. I’ve been playing for quite a long time.”
Lewis-Skelly then replied, revealing that he had to choose between a pursuit of becoming a professional tennis or football player at a young age.
He said: “For me it’s tennis, I used to play tennis when I was younger and I had to pick between tennis and football.”
And whilst Great Britain would love to have another Andy Murray type talent coming through the ranks right now, Arsenal fans will be grateful that Lewis-Skelly chose football.
Myles Lewis-Skelly could follow Paolo Maldini’s path
At this early stage of his career, it’s not too often that you’ll hear Lewis-Skelly and Paolo Maldini’s names in the same sentence.
However, given that Maldini went on to make his professional tennis debut at the age of 47 in 2017, after retiring from football, perhaps Lewis-Skelly could one day do the same.
The teenager didn’t express any plans to make a return to tennis in the future, but perhaps he could still follow the same path – hopefully after winning several league titles with the Gunners first.
Maldini’s tennis career never really took off, but perhaps Lewis-Skelly could one day show him how it’s really done.
That being said, Lewis-Skelly made an interesting claim about Martin Odegaard recently too, a player who seems to be benefiting from all the quality around him in the first team.
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