Arsenal braced for Myles Lewis-Skelly transfer bids after Thomas Tuchel warning

Thomas Tuchel left Myles Lewis-Skelly out of his latest England squad, telling the Arsenal star that he needs more game time in order to regain his place ahead of the World Cup

Several Premier League clubs are reportedly eyeing up Myles Lewis-Skelly after Thomas Tuchel told the Arsenal left-back that he needs to play more often. Lewis-Skelly, 19, has only started four games for Arsenal this season, none of which have come in the Premier League.

That's led to the Gunners defender missing out on an England call-up for the first time in 2025. Like at club level with Riccardo Calafiori and Piero Hincapie, Lewis-Skelly has fierce competition at left-back.

Tuchel has this month preferred Manchester City's Nico O'Reilly as well as Djed Spence, who's currently first choice in the position. There's only one more camp - in March - before Tuchel names his squad for the World Cup and Lewis-Skelly is at risk of missing out if he doesn't start getting regular game time.

One way of doing so could be leaving Emirates Stadium, either on a permanent basis or temporarily. Sky Sports report that a number of Premier League clubs are interested in a January transfer for the 19-year-old.

Lewis-Skelly did, however, sign a new five-year contract in June and sees his future in north London. But Tuchel's warning will give him food for thought ahead of the winter window.

"Myles was a very good team-mate and played for us in the last camp in the World Cup qualifier in Riga, so was Ruben Loftus-Cheek, so was Morgan Gibbs-White," the England boss acknowledged.

"But I said last time there is a component to it and that is about competition and performance and the door is always open for guys who perform on a high level regularly. Myles, Ruben and Morgan got out-performed by O'Reilly, Alex Scott and Jude Bellingham in their positions.

"Myles simply needs more starts, more minutes. Now came a time when O'Reilly had so many starts in that position, so he is slightly ahead for this camp."

Gunners boss Mikel Arteta said last week that Arsenal will provide Lewis-Skelly with support following the snub. "Yes, for sure, I think we are here to support and help each other and to give a good perspective of the situation, and in the case of Myles, when you look at his age, what he's already done, he's just remarkable," Arteta explained.

"So don't look at the one moment what is happening for you because maybe it happens for the right reason and today you cannot see it."

England host Serbia at Wembley on Thursday before travelling to Albania for their final World Cup qualifier. The Three Lions sealed their place at the tournament last month as winners of Group K.