Carragher doubles down on Lewis-Skelly verdict by questioning Arsenal stance

Jamie Carragher has once again questioned Arsenal's stance on selling Myles Lewis-Skelly after the Gunners star provided a gorgeous assist inside the first minute against Manchester City. Lewis-Skelly, 19, set up Riccardo Calafiori to give Arsenal an early lead in Sunday's Community Shield clash in Cardiff.

The midfielder expertly turned on the ball to get away from Phil Foden before sending slide-rule pass through to Calafiori, who finished with aplomb past Gianluigi Donnarumma. It was reminder to Mikel Arteta of just what Lewis-Skelly can do - even against top opposition.

Reacting to the opener, Carragher posted on X: "MLS role in that arsenal goal! Are Arsenal really looking to push him out," along with two emojis.

Lewis-Skelly - who's under contract until 2030 - started the game in midfield, the position in which he finished last season after largely playing at left-back since making his breakthrough. But Lewis-Skelly's future was plunged into doubt last week after both Manchester United and Chelsea were offered the chance to sign him, with Arsenal having bought Bruno Guimaraes for £75m.

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Speaking earlier this week, Carragher described the uncertainty surrounding Lewis-Skelly's future as 'strange', surmising that Arsenal want to offload him rather the player himself wanting to leave. "That's the thing that was a little bit strange about it," the Liverpool legend said on The Overlap Fan Debate.

"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, not so much the players' side of it."

"I still can't believe it. Obviously, last season wasn't great for him for the whole season, but when a young player has already put in performances like I've seen him put in at the Bernabeu (against Real Madrid) - maybe over a year or 18 months ago, at left-back, he was running the game at the Bernabeu – and then his performance in the final in central midfield against Paris Saint-Germain.

"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.

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"But his ceiling is so high for the performances he's already put in as a 20-year-old kid. I couldn't believe that Arsenal would even think about letting him go. It does feel like a strange one."

Arsenal boss Arteta was asked about Lewis-Skelly on Wednesday, with the 19-year-old having scored in a pre-season friendly. "I'm not going to talk about speculation," Arteta replied.

"If there is speculation about our players, it's a good sign. That means our players attract attention and are doing a good job."

The Gunners manager went on to say: "He's had a really good pre-season. We asked him to play in a different position because he played more as a No.6 - we obviously lacked midfielders from international duty - and I think he had a really consistent pre-season."