This season at Arsenal has been marked by the rise of two young academy talents – 17-year-old Ethan Nwaneri and 18-year-old Myles Lewis-Skelly – who have made their way into the first-team squad.
Both are being hailed as the club’s new “diamonds,” with Lewis-Skelly in particular drawing comparisons to Oleksandr Zinchenko due to their similar playing styles and positions on the field.
Lewis-Skelly’s rapid development has been striking, with his transformation from a central midfielder to a left-back mirroring the path taken by Zinchenko. Before the 2024/25 season, Myles had only featured for Arsenal’s youth teams, and like Nwaneri, he had previously been at Chelsea before making the switch to Arsenal.
Mikel Arteta spotted the potential of both players during the summer preseason, and this led to Lewis-Skelly’s first involvement with the first team. However, he initially played as a central midfielder during the U.S. tour, but upon returning to England, he found himself as a backup option for the left-back role.
This shift is often referred to as the “Zinchenko path,” with Arteta making a similar decision to retrain the player. The reasons behind this were Myles’ current inability to play as a central midfielder at Premier League level due to a lack of experience, speed of decision-making, and the required skillset.
Arteta, however, saw valuable defensive qualities in Lewis-Skelly, such as his speed, dribbling, ball control under pressure, and work ethic. Most notably, Arteta praised his adaptability to the team’s tactical requirements.
The coach also noted that Lewis-Skelly could potentially play in three positions – full-back, central defensive midfielder, and central midfielder – but opted to keep him in reserve at the start of the season. Following an injury crisis, Myles was given a chance, and British media reported that he is drawing inspiration from Zinchenko and adapting to his new role, recognizing the similarities in their profiles.
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