Mikel Arteta sent brutal Myles Lewis-Skelly message – 'A choice to make'

Arsenal's academy graduateMyles Lewis-Skelly is set on making it difficult for Mikel Arteta to exclude him from future team selections. The teenager had a standout season last year, which saw him earn his first senior England call-up, but has struggled to secure regular playing time this season.

Lewis-Skelly has only clocked up 85 minutes in thePremier League so far, all as a substitute, with Riccardo Calafiori firmly establishing himself in the left-back position. However, he has been given more chances in cup competitions, starting twice in the Champions League and twice in the Carabao Cup.

In Wednesday's match against Brighton, Lewis-Skelly assisted Ethan Nwaneri's opening goal before Bukayo Sakascored a second, propelling the Gunners into the Carabao Cup quarter-finals. Following the 2-0 win, he expressed his determination to become an indispensable player under Arteta.

• 'Relationship is very bad' – Arsenal's Martin Zubimendi at the centre of heated spat
• I joined Arsenal after manager humiliated me in front of the team - I'm happier now

"I'm enjoying it this season," said Lewis-Skelly. "It's a different experience for me, not playing as much at the moment, but I'm enjoying being part of the team.

"It's important to compete for places and I'm a competitive person, so I'm never going to back down. I enjoy the challenge. Being with these boys is a joy.

"The standards are high and everyone wants to play. Because the levels are so much higher this season, places are short, but you've just got to compete. At the end of the day, I just want to express myself.

"Football's what I love and I'll never make excuses if I am playing or not. I just want to go out there and express myself. As long as I'm doing that, I'm giving the gaffer a choice to make."

Lewis-Skelly wasn't the only academy prospect to shine on Wednesday. Max Dowman and Andre Harriman-Annous were both given starts by Arteta, with the boss highlighting both for their performances.

"A very special evening to be fair, very happy for various reasons," Arteta said after the win against Brighton. "Obviously, we are in the quarter-finals, and we won the game against a really tough opponent.

"We made 10 changes, we played players that never played together, yet we made two huge debuts for Max and Andre. That feeling of giving the opportunity to somebody and fulfilling a dream is unique, and I'm very happy that things turned out to be very positive, and we managed to win the game."

Arsenal's next fixture is a Premier League trip to Burnley. Following that, they meet another newly-promoted team in Sunderland at the Stadium of Light, with a Champions League fixture away to Slavia Prague sandwiched in between.

Considering the rapid ascent of Lewis-Skelly, it's easy to overlook that less than a year has elapsed since his inaugural Premier League match. His first Champions League start came in the same month, December 2024, where he featured for over an hour in a resounding 3-0 triumph against Monaco.