Paul Scholes Critiques Arsenal's Transfer Strategy Regarding Lewis-Skelly

Paul Scholes has taken aim at Arsenal’s transfer thinking, accusing the club of preparing to sacrifice the wrong midfielder this summer.

With 19-year-old Myles Lewis-Skelly surprisingly linked with moves to Premier League rivals, the Manchester United great insists the North London side should be looking much closer at one of Mikel Arteta’s headline signings instead.

Speaking on The Overlap Fan Debate, brought to you by Sky Bet, Scholes did not hesitate when asked to choose between the academy prospect and the established Spain international.

"I prefer Lewis-Skelly in centre midfield to Zubimendi," Scholes said. "I think Zubimendi struggled last year. If there’s one player you are going to get rid of, it would be him."

That was only the starting point.

Scholes then drilled into what truly bothers him: the idea of a club pushing out one of its own to protect a big-name recruit. For him, losing a homegrown midfielder like Lewis-Skelly would cut far deeper than a simple squad adjustment. It would strike at the identity of the club.

He reached back into his own past at Old Trafford to make the point land. Scholes compared the situation to Manchester United’s decision to sell Danny Welbeck to Arsenal, a move that still clearly grates.

"It reminds me a little bit of when Danny Welbeck left Manchester United. I hated it, didn’t like it. Now, Danny was a little bit older than Myles Lewis-Skelly, but when you’re losing your own players, it’s disappointing."

Scholes is not alone in his confusion.

Jamie Carragher, watching the same story unfold from a Liverpool perspective, admitted he was stunned by reports that Arsenal had floated Lewis-Skelly to domestic rivals. This week, it emerged that the Gunners had potentially offered the teenager to both Chelsea and Manchester United, a notion Carragher struggles to get his head around given the youngster’s impact on big European nights.

"Do you think it’s from his side or the club’s side? That’s the thing that was a little bit strange about it," Carragher said. "It felt almost like Arsenal offered Manchester United Myles Lewis-Skelly. It wasn’t Myles Lewis-Skelly saying I want to leave or his people putting something out. That’s where the shock came from. I still can’t believe it."

The admiration from Carragher did not stop there. He underlined just how rare it is for a teenager to look at home in high-stakes fixtures.

"You can’t play at that level unless you’re pretty special at that age. All young players have ups and downs. Last season he didn’t play as much as he probably would have liked."

That is the crux of the debate: a raw, gifted midfielder still feeling his way into senior football, yet already trusted on major stages, now seemingly being nudged towards the exit while more established names are protected.

Arteta, as ever, chose his words carefully.

When the Arsenal manager was pressed this week on Lewis-Skelly’s future and the suggestion that the club might cash in on the versatile youngster, he refused to be drawn into specifics.

"I’m not going to talk about any speculation," he said. "If there is a speculation about our players, that’s a good sign."

The noise around Lewis-Skelly is not going away. Scholes and Carragher have made their stance clear. The next move belongs to Arsenal – and it will say a lot about what kind of club they want to be.