Micah Richards has made it clear that Myles Lewis-Skelly is too good to spend time on the Arsenal bench, describing the youngster as one of the best players he has seen at that age.
Lewis-Skelly has already become an important part of Arsenal’s squad, but he spent much of last season watching from the bench. He made 20 Premier League appearances during the campaign, starting just five of them.
This season has changed the fortunes for Arsenal youngster so far. The 20-year-old has started four of Arsenal’s opening five league matches and is now getting the regular football Richards believes he deserves.
Richards explains why Lewis-Skelly stands out
Speaking on The Rest Is Football, Richards was full of praise for the Arsenal academy graduate.
“Myles Lewis-Skelly is one of my favourite players,” he said.
“Technically he’s very good, he’s strong and fast, he has football intelligence and he’s still so young as well.”
Micah Richards also recalled Lewis-Skelly’s performance against Real Madrid in the Champions League, saying he had rarely seen anything like it from a player so young.
Arsenal have plenty of competition in the squad. Riccardo Calafiori has also featured at left-back, while the midfield has become even more crowded with the likes of Declan Rice, Martin Odegaard and other options available.
That makes regular starts harder to guarantee, but Micah Richards does not think Lewis-Skelly should be the one left out.
“But Lewis-Skelly is too good to be on the bench,” he said. “He’s one of the best young players I’ve seen at his age and that’s not an exaggeration.”
Lewis-Skelly, one to watch for Manchester United
The Arsenal midfielder was linked heavily to Manchester United over the summer. Sky Sports’ Daniyal Khan has also confirmed the interest in his latest transfer podcast.
“He is someone Manchester United do really admire, they have admired for a long time. There’s a lot of talk around Lewis Hall but all I’m saying is I think Lewis-Skelly’s situation next summer, depending on how much he plays this season, I would keep an eye on it.”
