He is only 18 years old and is playing out of his usual position, but Myles Lewis-Skelly has impressed his Arsenal team-mates in the past few weeks.
The teenager has starred in midfield for the club's Premier League 2 side, but an injury crisis that has ruled out Jakub Kiwior, Riccardo Calafiori and Oleksandr Zinchenko forced Mikel Arteta to ask Lewis-Skelly to fill in and make his first senior start outside the EFL Cup, when the Gunners hosted AS Monaco in the UEFA Champions League.
He kept his place at left-back for the Premier League meetings with Everton, Crystal Palace and Ipswich Town, helping Arsenal to limit their opponents to just one goal across those three matches, while showing composure as he inverted into midfield on a regular basis.
Next, he could feature in the club's first fixture of 2025, a London derby at Brentford.
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Lewis-Skelly was voted Player of the Match by Arsenal fans for his display against Ipswich, and received praise from his team-mates.
"He can go to the top, this kid is just special, very special," Declan Rice told Arsenal’s official website.
"For an 18-year-old to be that good, that comfortable, that strong... it’s like Myles was built in a lab!
"I said that to him the other day, it’s just ridiculous how good he is, but he has a long way to go.
"He’s so level-headed, he’s got a great family around him, I know his mum looks after him really well, and all the boys at the training ground do too."
A mature performance filled with personality 🙌
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) December 28, 2024
Last night's POTM: Myles Lewis-Skelly 👏 pic.twitter.com/S7i6ldwvrw
Arteta's assessment
Lewis-Skelly's manager joined Rice in hailing the performance of the youngster born in south London, who joined Arsenal at the age of eight.
"He’s been exceptional," said Arteta, after the victory over Ipswich.
"I think it’s the first time that he’s played the full match. He was really consistent, both attacking and defending, so focused and with a lot of initiative, and he’s showing great personality.
"It’s a big step for him to play at the level that he’s playing [at]. He was really good today."
Lewis-Skelly has joined 17-year-old Ethan Nwaneri in making the step up from Arsenal’s Hale End Academy to the first team via the Under-18 Premier League and Premier League 2.
It’s a path similar to that taken by Bukayo Saka, who also played initially for the first team out of position as a left-back or left wing-back, before moving higher up the pitch.
"We have a really good crop of youngsters coming through and he [Lewis-Skelly] can be what he wants to be," added Rice.
"He just needs to stay focused and always want more and he can do that."
