Arsenal news: ‘Protective vibe’ when making Lewis-Skelly England decision

England manager Thomas Tuchel says he contemplated leaving Myles Lewis-Skelly out of the squad “to protect him a little bit” after already being thrusted into the spotlight for Arsenal this season, but injuries in the left-back position mean he is needed.

The 18-year-old, who has featured for the Young Lions up to under-19s level, has been handed his first senior call-up by Tuchel for the upcoming 2026 World Cup qualifiers.

“A lot of people will be impressed with him,” said Tuchel. “With injuries, we ran a little bit out of left-footers who can play left-back.

“We were always impressed with Myles and he quickly became a regular player for the second best team in the country. I have huge confidence in the club that they still pick him regularly, and he has been very impressive from the very start.

“I can understand it feels a bit like we’ve fast forwarded a career that is already at fast pace, but I can assure you the talks in the last days and weeks had a kind of parental and protective vibe. We felt like maybe we shouldn’t nominate him to protect him a little bit and to not skip him being in the under-21s to let him breathe a bit out of the spotlight.

“But with injuries, the quality and his maturity, we have decided to take him. He is a young and exciting player.”