Ian Wright Defends Myles Lewis-Skelly Amid Transfer Speculation

Ian Wright has launched a fierce defence of Arsenal academy star Myles Lewis-Skelly and hit out at the swirl of transfer noise he believes is being fuelled by intermediaries rather than the player’s camp.

Speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, the former Arsenal striker pushed back hard against claims that Lewis-Skelly is being touted around, and questioned why the club have not shut the door on speculation amid links to Manchester United.

“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.”

For Wright, that is where the alarm bells ring. The noise, he argues, is not coming from the player, but from the way Arsenal now operate in the market.

“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 then turned his anger on what he sees as a confused transfer strategy. On one hand, Arsenal are linked with huge-money moves for global stars. On the other, homegrown talents appear to be treated as potential balance-sheet solutions under profit and sustainability pressure.

“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?

“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 heart of his concern is the financial reality around academy products. Any sale of a homegrown player counts as pure profit in the accounts, and Wright fears that makes them easy targets when clubs need to tidy up the books.

“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.

He namechecked Ethan Nwaneri as another example, welcoming suggestions that the teenager will be loaned rather than sold.

“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.”

The Lewis-Skelly situation, though, clearly troubles him most. The midfielder’s emergence has caught the eye across the Premier League, and Wright knows rival clubs are watching closely.

“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, is exactly why Arsenal must act decisively and publicly.

“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.”