Myles Lewis-Skelly, Arsenal’s ‘very rare’ talent, comes of age to leave Mikel Arteta with a big decision | OneFootball

Teenager starred in north London derby win over Tottenham and is giving Arteta a welcome dilemma

Leaving the pitch after being substituted, Myles Lewis-Skelly could not help turning to the Arsenal fans and whipping them up as a beaming smile spread across his face.

Trusted to start in a huge north London derby against Tottenham, Lewis-Skelly rose to the occasion and showed he is arguably Arsenal’s best left-back right now.

Riccardo Calafiori may have something to say about that when he is back fit, but at the very least the Italian has a fight on his hands.

Lewis-Skelly rose to the occasion against Spurs and showed he is arguably Arsenal’s best left-back right now

REUTERS

Mikel Arteta described Lewis-Skelly’s performance on Wednesday as “very rare” given he only turned 18 in September.

Arteta is not wrong, as the last time an 18-year-old started a north London derby in the Premier League for Arsenal was Cesc Fabregas all the way back in 2005.

“He was phenomenal today,” said Arteta. “He is a real personality. He has so much trust in himself.

“He has that attitude about him. He had to play against [Brennan] Johnson and [Dejan] Kulusevski here, and manage the occasion, it is not easy. He was top.”

Declan Rice remarked recently how it feels like Lewis-Skelly was “built in a lab” - and it is not hard to see why.

Few teenagers are built like him and even fewer would have the ability to play the complex role of an inverted full-back.

What is even more remarkable is that Lewis-Skelly came through the Arsenal academy as a midfielder.

But Arteta experimented with him at left-back during last summer’s pre-season tour to the US and he has seized the opportunity.

Lewis-Skelly seemed to relish the occasion against Spurs and no Arsenal player won more tackles than him.

Mikel Arteta described Lewis-Skelly’s performance on Wednesday as ‘very rare’

Action Images via Reuters

He was even involved in a scuffle with midfielder Lucas Bergvall shortly before he came off near the end.

It is not the first time he has looked to impose himself, after he squared up to Manchester City striker Erling Haaland on his debut back in September.

“Never afraid of no one,” said Lewis-Skelly after the Spurs game. “I want to go against the best. I want to be the best.

“My mum, my grandma, my friends [were at the game]. I had to put on a show for my grandma, make sure that I did not look soft in front of her!

“I had to make sure I was winning my tackles for her and hopefully she is proud of me.”

Lewis-Skelly caught the eye on the ball, too. Within minutes, he created a great chance for Raheem Sterling and he finished the game with a pass completion of 92 per cent.

He misplaced just three of his 36 passes and no one who started the game for Arsenal had a better pass completion rate than him.

“The young boy Myles was unbelievable,” said Rice. “For 18 years of age to be playing how he is... it is just ridiculous.

“Four or five times in the second half he used his body to get away from someone. He has that Mousa Dembele type strength.”

The comparisons to Dembele are easy to see.

Lewis-Skelly has that knack of wriggling away from players when it looks like he has been crowded out.

On more than one occasion against Spurs, he received he ball in the tightest of spaces but used his body to fend players off and drive forward.

It is a skill Lewis-Skelly showed throughout his years in the Arsenal academy and one that makes you wonder if he may yet end up as a midfielder.

For now, though, he is excelling at left-back and his rapid rise shows no signs of slowing down.