Arsenal beat Dinamo Zagreb to consolidate their place in the top eight of the UEFA Champions League table and book a spot in the round of 16 without the play-offs.
However, one name was missing from the roster, which raised eyebrows. The team is already without William Saliba, Bukayo Saka, Ben White, and Gabriel Jesus, but a new name has joined them on the treatment table.
Hale End academy graduate Myles Lewis-Skelly was nowhere to be found, and Mikel Arteta revealed that he is dealing with an injury issue.
Arteta said (via Charles Watts): “He could not finish the training session yesterday, unfortunately. He had an incident during the match against Aston Villa, and he wasn’t feeling right yesterday, so he could not finish the session.”
Lewis-Skelly is a massive miss for a team already without several players. The 18-year-old has been growing in stature this season, impressing as a left-back and drawing praise from his coach and teammates.
Arteta converted Lewis-Skelly from a midfielder to a left-back, and the youngster has adapted like a duck to water, showing defensive resilience and excellent attacking instincts. He has been Arsenal’s shining light amidst a disappointing run of form in recent weeks.
Arteta had informed him before the season started that he’d need to change his position to get a look into the first team, and Lewis-Skelly has risen to the occasion with some solid performances.
With Riccardo Calafiori, Oleksandr Zinchenko, and Kieran Tierney available, Arteta can cope with Lewis-Skelly’s absence. However, the latter will soon be off to Celtic while Calafiori and Zinchenko are crocky.
The manager will hope to have his versatile youngster back soon enough to help them push for titles.
