- Manchester United eye Arsenal full-back
- The 19-year-old signed a five-year contract last summer
- Arsenal may have to sell to fund transfers
Manchester United have reportedly intensified their interest in Myles Lewis-Skelly as they look to reinforce their back line ahead of a return to Champions League football next season.
The highly rated defender signed a five-year contract last summer, but has started just one Premier League game this season. It was reported on 26 March that Arsenal would need to sell this summer to fund reinforcements, though it remains unclear whether Lewis-Skelly will be among those departing.
The 2024/25 season marked his breakthrough. Lewis-Skelly featured 42 times as Arsenal surged to the Champions League semi-finals, starting both legs of the tie
This term, however, has told a different story. With Mikel Arteta favouring Riccardo Calafiori and Piero Hincapie, opportunities have been scarce, and Lewis-Skelly has drifted to the fringes.
Across all competitions, he has logged just 1,298 minutes—barely half the 2,543 he amassed last year.
Is Lewis-Skelly Shaw’s successor?
Alex Crook of talkSPORT revealed this morning that Manchester United have placed Myles Lewis-Skelly on their shortlist as they target a new left-back this summer.
“Lewis-Skelly is one of the options that United I’m told would look at in terms of bringing a new left back in the summer. I think they have doubts about Luke Shaw physically and his ability to play Champions League football which they hope to be securing in the coming weeks in midweek and then going again in the Premier League at the weekend because of course he has had a long history of injuries.”
He added:
“I think they’re looking for tried and tested Premier League players and Lewis Skelly fits into that category, and he’s only started one Premier League game for Arsenal this season.”
Whilst Luke Shaw has produced a miraculous revival—starting every single Premier League match—there is no doubt that the rigours of top-flight football have drained his athleticism.
Over the span of a 14-season playing career, the left-back has suffered 30 separate injuries, keeping him sidelined for 2184 days—five years and 359 days.
The left-back, once able to make dashing overlapping runs, is unable to exert his once electric pace and has had to alter his game in recent months.
Shaw no longer possesses the same burst to surge beyond Matheus Cunha—the kind of overlapping run he once made instinctively around Marcus Rashford. Still, his positioning and footballing brain have come on leaps and bounds.
With the ball in the air, Shaw will not overextend his leg to react to the ball; instead, he will bustle in next to the opposing player and use his chest to not only cushion the ball but also assert his authority.
But despite all this, Shaw remains fragile. One mistimed challenge or a wrong twist, and he could be sidelined for months. United need a dependable backup—or a long-term replacement.
Lewis-Skelly’s Arsenal Roots
Lewis-Skelly has been an Arenal fan since birth. Born just seven miles away from the Emirates Stadium in Denmark Hill, Lewis-Skelly joined the Arsenal youth academy at the age of eight.
Eleven years on, circumstances may force the 19-year-old to depart from his boyhood club.
“I want a legacy,” he proudly proclaimed whilst signing his bumper five-year deal last summer. “I want to win everything there is to win in the game, I want to win trophies on the biggest stages whilst being a person that’s always learning and stays grounded, which is so important.”
Whilst Lewis-Skelly may never have dreamed of leaving Arsenal, he could face the prospect of leaving the club due to increasingly limited game time.
