Ian Wright Defends Arsenal Academy Talents Amid Transfer Speculation
Ian Wright has launched a fierce defence of Arsenal’s academy talents and taken aim at the growing power of intermediaries in the club’s transfer dealings, insisting the current noise around Myles Lewis-Skelly and Gabriel Martinelli simply should not exist.
Speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, the former Arsenal striker cut through the speculation around Lewis-Skelly’s future and the role of the teenager’s family in it.
“I don't know where that's coming from because I know for a fact that's not coming from his team,” Wright said. “It's not coming from his mum. Arsenal fans need to chill out with his mum saying that she's touting him about. Myles has already said he's happy to stay. Why have Arsenal not just said he's not for sale?”
For Wright, the silence from the club is the problem. The 19-year-old midfielder has drawn strong admiration from across the league, and Wright admitted that interest from a club like Manchester United is inevitable.
“He'd be a great signing for Manchester United, of course he would. Look what he's doing,” he added.
But that, in Wright’s eyes, is exactly why Arsenal should be shutting the door publicly, not leaving it ajar.
Frustration with intermediaries and mixed messages
Wright’s frustration runs deeper than one contract saga. He believes Arsenal’s business is increasingly being shaped by intermediaries, with stories emerging that do not match what players themselves want.
“There's things happening and this again is what I'm worried about with Arsenal, it's the way we're doing business with intermediaries now,” he said. “How's that story happening when we know for a fact they're happy and want to stay?”
He pointed to Gabriel Martinelli as another example of a player whose name has been thrown around without any direct club contact.
“[Gabriel] Martinelli has not been contacted by anybody at the club but has been touted about everywhere, who is doing that? Why is that happening?”
For a club that has spent heavily at the top end of the market, Wright sees a contradiction between the ambition of their targets and the apparent willingness to move on players who have already broken through.
“You know what's confusing? How can we be in for Vinicius Junior when we're looking to break records trying to sign this guy but now we're desperate to sell. What's going on?” he said.
Pure profit pressure on academy stars
Wright then zeroed in on one of the modern game’s harshest realities: Profit and Sustainability Rules turning academy graduates into financial instruments.
“The unfortunate thing you get when you've got a player who comes through the academy and breaks in to the first team and does what they do, you've always got that noose of pure profit on them,” he said.
That pressure is not limited to Lewis-Skelly. Wright namechecked Ethan Nwaneri as another young talent caught in the swirl of planning, potential and regulation.
“It's the same with Ethan Nwaneri. I'm hearing now that they're not going to sell him they want to loan him which I'm quite pleased about because I don't think at any stage he's had a run to have a go at playing in that team.”
To Wright, these are players Arsenal should be building around, not pricing up.
United interest, Arsenal uncertainty
Lewis-Skelly’s performances have inevitably put him on the radar of rivals. Wright accepted that a club like Manchester United will test Arsenal’s resolve, especially after seeing other Premier League midfielders thrive at the top level.
“When you've got someone like Myles who is playing well, it's unbelievable what he's capable of doing then of course Manchester United will see if something can happen,” he said. “They've seen Guimaraes come in they've seen Declan Rice.”
That, for Wright, makes Arsenal’s stance – or lack of one – even more puzzling.
“He doesn't want to leave and that's the thing that's really baffling me is why Arsenal don't just come in and say he's not for sale.”
The message from one of the club’s most iconic forwards is clear: if Arsenal truly believe in their academy core, it’s time to say so loudly – and stop letting intermediaries and rumours do the talking for them.
