What’s going on with Arsenal youngster Lewis-Skelly?

Just under a year ago, Myles Lewis-Skelly was starring for Arsenal in a Champions League quarter-final against Real Madrid and looked set to be England’s starting left-back at the World Cup.

Now he finds himself fighting for game time with the Gunners.

The 19-year-old’s breakout season came in 2024-25, taking his chance for Arsenal during their injury-hit campaign and then signing a five-year contract in the summer.

Fine form also saw him recognised on the international stage and, in March last year, Lewis-Skelly became the youngest man to score on their England debut when he got the opener in a 2-0 win against Albania at Wembley.

He started four of England’s World Cup qualifying matches and was named in four of Thomas Tuchel’s first five England squads before missing out on the November camp because of a lack of club matches.

So now what for the Gunners academy graduate?

Mikel Arteta is attempting to win the Premier League for Arsenal after three successive second-placed finishes, and that means there is no space for sentiment.

The Gunners have not won the league since 2004 and there is a sense of desperation within the fanbase to see success.

Arteta has developed his current Arsenal side into a solid unit which has a more direct style of play than his previous teams.

That has led him to sign players who can physically compete with any side in the league. Alongside Riccardo Calafiori, who Arsenal signed for £42m in 2024, Arteta has brought in Piero Hincapie from Bayer Leverkusen on loan with an option to buy for about £45m.

As Arsenal look to make the transition to becoming serial winners, Arteta has favoured experience with Viktor Gyokeres, Martin Zubimendi and Eberechi Eze signed in the prime of their careers as ‘win now’ signings.

Unfortunately for Lewis-Skelly, that is not good news for young players. Fellow academy graduate Ethan Nwaneri was sent on loan to Marseille after struggling to get regular minutes.

Lewis-Skelly was kept around but, in Hincapie, Arsenal have a player who was part of the Leverkusen squad that won the 2024-25 Bundesliga without losing a game and the German Cup in the 2023-24 season.

The Ecuador international’s physicality and intensity when defending is also regularly mentioned by Arteta.

His characteristics match with the Arsenal boss, while Gabriel Heinze, who joined the backroom staff this year, is also a passionate character and is a fan of Hincapie.

With Calafiori also bringing an unpredictability to an Arsenal attack that places an emphasis on the full-backs when Arsenal go forward, Lewis-Skelly has dropped from first choice last season to third choice this.

Despite a drop in game time after finding himself in the deep end of a title challenge at just 18 last year, it is not all negative for Lewis-Skelly.

He started 26 times in 42 games last season as Calafiori, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Kieran Tierney all had injury issues.

That may have led many, including Lewis-Skelly, to expect more time on the pitch this season. However, while he has started 12 games in 26 appearances, just one start has come in the Premier League.

The talk of being a starting England left-back came ahead of schedule for the plan that Lewis-Skelly had in his career and he will still have played enough to receive a Premier League medal if Arsenal are able to make the step to becoming champions in May.

He has started six of Arsenal‘s nine Champions League games, which included impressive wins over Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid – during which he produced a line-breaking run and assist – and he also played the full 90 minutes in Arsenal‘s victory over Inter Milan in the San Siro.

“Every season is different,” Arteta said when asked about Lewis-Skelly’s game time this season.

“He had very good moments in this season. He had other moments when he hasn’t played in that much.

“Obviously, a few days ago, in the FA Cup, he was suspended and he could not play.

“So, there are various reasons. Sometimes, as well, the good form of your team-mates. There’s a lot of factors that contribute to that. But he’s doing well.”

Arteta is not averse to giving young players a chance, with six youngsters making their debut this season, but there is a difference between getting a taste of first-team football and playing in crunch games.

Lewis-Skelly has excelled when playing as a full-back and inverting into midfield with the ball, but with a tweak on the requirements on Arsenal‘s full-backs this season, those attributes are not so obviously needed in build-up play.

Nwaneri’s loan will still be fresh in the memory, and the fact that Lewis-Skelly would present pure profit for Arsenal on the balance sheet is also another intriguing factor when discussing his future.

There are not many 19-year-olds who have achieved what Lewis-Skelly has.

But with selection for the World Cup looking increasingly unlikely, there may be discussions to be had about his immediate career plan in the summer.