Arsenal team selection hint amid Declan Rice and Mikel Merino absences
Arsenal fans may have received a team news hint with Declan Rice and Mikel Merino out of upcoming fixtures.
Youngster Myles Lewis-Skelly was spotted alongside Jurrien Timbre, Ben White, and Gabriel Jesus in promotional photographs for the Arsenals Adidas ZNE campaign. This could be a clue that the 17-year-old may get his chance as a result of Rice and Merino’s absences in the coming weeks.
Rice was shown a red card in the Gunners 1-1 draw with Brighton yesterday and will miss the North London Derby clash with Spurs after the international break. New signing Merino is also nursing a shoulder injury and is likely to remain sidelined for a number of weeks. As a result, Arsenal may have to turn to the youngster who featured during Arsenal’s pre-season victory over Bayer Leverkusen – he replaced Oleksandr Zinchenko at half-time at the Emirates on that occasion, receiving plaudits from onlookers.
Of course, a relatively relaxed pre-season game is a different proposition to the blood and thunder nature of one of England’s major rivalries. The Islington, London-born starlet is predominantly a midfielder but can also fill in at left-back – which may also play to his advantage as Timbre limped off in the final minutes of Saturday’s draw with Brighton. As we await a fitness update on Timbre, there is no suggestion that Lewis-Skelly will start the game with Zinchenko and Riccardo Calafiori ahead in the pecking order, but he may gain valuable experience in and around the first-team environment nonetheless.
During his fledgling career, so far he has been selected for England at youth levels; representing England at Under-16,17 and 18 levels. A standout moment was his FA Youth Cup semi-final goal against Manchester City in 2023. In October of that year, he penned his first professional deal at Arsenal.
A string of performances impressed Arsenal Under-18 side coach and former player Jack Wilshere, speaking to The Athletic in April 2023, he said: “There are some things that you see from Myles Lewis-Skelly, Ethan Nwaneri, Bradley Ibrahim, Jimi Gower — they do things you can’t coach. That’s why they’re at Arsenal. They need a few things tactically. I like my midfielders to be on the half-turn, play forward and touch forward, dribble if you can.”
Arsenal boss Arteta is not afraid of blooding youngsters – in September 2022, Ethan Nwaneri became the Premier League’s youngster ever player at 15 years and 81 days, when he was used as a sub against Brentford.
