Who are you? Arsenal star Myles Lewis-Skelly makes himself known to the world
By Philip Duncan, PA
Myles Lewis-Skelly’s outrageous celebration in Arsenal’s 5-1 thumping of Manchester City announced the club’s 18-year-old academy star on to the world stage.
The audacious decision to goad one of the game’s blue-chip names in Erling Haaland followed a clash between the two players at the Etihad in September.
Haaland did not take kindly to Lewis-Skelly’s involvement in a post-match scuffle after the chaotic 2-2 draw.
“Who the f*** are you?” he yelled at Lewis-Skelly, who had just been handed his Premier League bow as an 89th-minute substitute. Haaland will certainly be aware of the name now.
In the 132 days since his league debut at the home of the champions, Lewis-Skelly has taken advantage of a string of injuries to cement his place as Mikel Arteta’s first-choice left-back.
It has been a dramatic rise, particularly given that he has only recently converted to the backline after he came through the club’s junior ranks as a ball-carrying midfielder.
Yet his robust power, skill, composure and complete lack of fear has rendered Oleksandr Zinchenko and Kieran Tierney virtually surplus to requirements in north London – with both likely to leave the Gunners – and Riccardo Calafiori, a £42million summer signing from Bologna, warming the bench.
His displays have not gone unnoticed by his teammates, with Declan Rice describing the player who joined Arsenal when he was eight as “so special that it is like has been built in a lab”.
And with England struggling to find a replacement for the injury-prone Luke Shaw, do not be surprised if he has caught the attention of Thomas Tuchel, too.
