Ian Wright Defends Myles Lewis-Skelly Amid Arsenal Transfer Speculation
Ian Wright has launched a fierce defence of Arsenal academy star Myles Lewis-Skelly and hit out at the growing role of intermediaries in the club’s transfer business, as speculation over the teenager’s future continues to swirl.
Speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, the former Gunners striker dismissed claims that Lewis-Skelly’s camp are pushing for a move and turned his fire on those he believes are driving the rumours.
“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?
“He'd be a great signing for Manchester United, of course he would. Look what he's doing.”
That was the heart of Wright’s frustration: not United’s interest, but Arsenal’s silence. For him, the noise around Lewis-Skelly is a symptom of a wider problem.
“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 continued. “How's that story happening when we know for a fact they're happy and want to stay?
“[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?”
Wright’s criticism didn’t stop at the handling of individual players. He went after what he sees as a contradiction at the heart of Arsenal’s transfer strategy, particularly under the pressure of financial rules that make academy products especially vulnerable.
“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.
“We've got a big squad and somebody has to leave but it seems like everyone leaving Arsenal is going to Turkey, that's another thing.
The unfortunate thing you get when you've got a player who comes through the academy and breaks into the first team and does what they do, you've always got that noose of pure profit on them.”
That “noose” hangs over more than just Lewis-Skelly. Wright name-checked Ethan Nwaneri as another example of a young talent caught between potential and profit.
“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.”
For Wright, Lewis-Skelly is exactly the sort of player Arsenal should be building around, not pricing up.
“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.”
But his biggest complaint remained the lack of a firm public stance from the club.
“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.”
