Myles Lewis-Skelly enjoyed a breakthrough season with Arsenal in 2024/25 but has found competition fierce this campaign and it has seen him miss out on England selection
Myles Lewis-Skelly is ready to fight for more minutes at Arsenal after missing out on selection for England. Lewis-Skelly was left out in favour of Manchester City’s Nico O’Reilly in Thomas Tuchel’s squad for the November internationals in a major blow for his hopes of going to the World Cup.
The 19-year-old left-back enjoyed a stellar 2024/25 season at Arsenal, making 39 appearances across all competitions for Mikel Arteta’s side. His form at club level was rewarded with England, with Tuchel handing him six caps since his debut in March.
But Lewis-Skelly has struggled for minutes at Arsenal this season, with Riccardo Calafiori the undisputed first-choice left-back in the Premier League, where he’s started all 11 games. The academy graduate has made seven substitute appearances totalling 92 minutes in the league, while starting twice in the Carabao Cup and Champions League.
Tuchel was clear that, to be considered for selection for the World Cup qualifiers against Serbia and Albania, Lewis-Skelly needed to play more regularly.
“Myles was a very good team-mate and played for us in the last camp in the World Cup qualifier in Riga,” Tuchel told a press conference on Friday. “Myles simply needs more starts, more minutes. Now came a time when Nico O’Reilly had so many starts in that position, so he is slightly ahead for this camp.”
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The Athletic reports that Tuchel called Lewis-Skelly before the squad was announced and their conversation was positive. Tuchel reportedly doesn’t want Lewis-Skelly to drop down to play for the England under-21s, because he considers him a senior player now, but Lee Carsley had a different take when asked about the possibility.
“It’s a situation that we’ll monitor,” Carsley said. “With this camp at the minute we’ve got players that I’ve been monitoring week in, week out, and Myles wasn’t one of them because he was playing and training with the seniors. It’s something we assess in March.
“We’d love to have Myles with us. I’ll communicate with Thomas and we’ll definitely come up for a plan with him.”
Lewis-Skelly is said to be determined to fight for his place at Arsenal, where Calafiori and summer signing Piero Hincapie are also competing for the left-back slot. “I’m enjoying it,” he said last month of the competition. “It’s a different experience for me, not playing as much at the moment, but I’m enjoying being part of the team.
“It’s important to compete for places and I’m a competitive person, so I’m never going to back down. I enjoy the challenge. Being with these boys is a joy. The standards are high and everyone wants to play. Because the levels are so much higher this season, places are short, but you’ve just got to compete.”
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