Premier League season after 10 games as Spurs lead from Arsenal
Mikel Arteta may be forced to take a chance on academy product Myles Lewis-Skelly before the end of the season as he looks to juggle Arsenal’s congested fixtures schedule. The playmaker has shone through the ranks in north London, and he could be rewarded with opportunities before the campaign concludes.
Arsenal have made a very strong start to the season, winning seven of their opening 10 matches and sit just two points behind league leaders Tottenham in the table. Arteta bolstered his ranks significantly over the summer to provide depth in all departments to allow for rotation, with Declan Rice and Kai Havertz among the new arrivals.
However, with injury problems stacking up at the Emirates Stadium, the Gunners’ new signings may not be capable of preventing the first-team from calling on their academy to ensure that key players are not overworked and thus susceptible to injuries of their own.
Thomas Partey shone for Arsenal last season but his continued fitness concerns are becoming detrimental to Arteta’s squad planning, with Jorginho also not capable of playing week in and week out. Thus, there may be an opportunity in the future for Lewis-Skelly to step up and feature more regularly under Arteta.
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Arsenal Under-18s manager Jack Wilshere has sung the praises of the playmaker since he began working with the 17-year-old. Lewis-Skelly was pivotal in the Gunners reaching the FA Youth Cup final last season, and his performance in the semi-final against Manchester City drew incredibly high praise from his manager.
Wilshere labelled the midfielder as ‘unplayable’ before explaining that the teenage prospect has qualities that you simply cannot teach. He explained: “We give him the tools he needs to develop, but you see certain moments that are not coachable. Certain players can’t do that, only certain players can but there’s much more that comes with it like how he lives.”
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With Arsenal regularly playing every few days, Lewis-Skelly looks to be the next in line to follow in the footsteps of Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith-Rowe and step up into the first-team fold when he receives the call from Arteta.
The versatile midfielder, who has played for Arsenal’s Under-21s as a left-back, was rewarded for his impressive rise through the ranks last month when he was handed his first professional contract with his boyhood side. The England youth international has also been spotted in first-team training recently – and he will be keen to prove that he is not there to simply make up the numbers.
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