Why Lewis-Skelly should worry if Arsenal complete £80m transfer

Let’s back up a bit here. It’s January 2026 and two of Arsenal’s best talents are fighting for game time.

In 2024/25, Ethan Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelly were two of the biggest stories in English football. However, with Mikel Arteta’s side finally winning the Premier League, they almost forgot about it.

Things can change quickly in football and it looked like both of these players could be sold in the last few months. This is the world of profit and sustainability in which we live. Both can be seen as pure profit if they can leave as they come to school.

However, while Nwaneri continued to struggle for minutes on loan at Marseille, Lewis-Skelly finally found his place and made an impressive impact.

How Lewis-Skelly has become a key figure at Arsenal again

At the start of 2024/25, Lewis-Skelly was out of the first-team picture. Indeed, before December of that campaign, he had played just 15 minutes of Premier League football.

However, during the holidays, the youngster quickly rose to prominence and has not looked back since. From 14 December until the end of that season, he missed only two league games and one was due to suspension.

A midfielder at the academy, he made his breakthrough as a left back and was soon playing for England. Lewis-Skelly scored on his debut for the Three Lions and looked set to qualify for the World Cup.

However, 2025/26 was not kind to the young man. Hale Ender had to remain very patient to get any minutes, making only two league starts in the first half of the campaign. He did not see a single moment of high flying for two months between the beginning of January and the beginning of March.

However, behind the scenes, he was training as a midfielder and before long, Lewis-Skelly was breaking into the team, replacing Martin Zubimendi in the middle of the park and performing incredibly well.

The Spaniard has looked like he’s been struggling for weeks and just needed time out from the team. That was useful for a graduate of a higher education institution.

The youngster has started four of the last six Premier League games and was even tipped to start in the Champions League final. From looking like he was about to be sacked at the Emirates, he is now a standout and has won back-to-back World Cups for Arsenal.

However, how long she remains Declan Rice’s partner remains to be seen.

Arsenal could sign £80m replacement for Lewis-Skelly

While not a major problem for Arsenal, the midfielder has been a problem for Arteta.

Zubimendi’s level of fitness was poor at the end of the season and the same can be said for Rice who was dealing with nervousness during the World Cup.

It would be a shock to see the England midfielder in the starting XI against Coventry City. He needs a long rest before returning to the picture at the Emirates Stadium.

Combine that with Zubimendi’s form and fitness and it’s no surprise that the Gunners want to sign a new midfielder. Lille’s Ayyoub Bouaddi continues to be linked, as does Newcastle’s Bruno Guimaraes.

The situation surrounding the Brazilian has been complicated by Sandro Tonali’s £100m exit and the state of the midfield market this summer. Most notably, Elliot Anderson moved to Manchester City for a £116m transfer.

He is 28 years old and with two years left on his contract, Arsenal are not willing to pay the same price but are ready to pay more. talkSPORT football reporter Alex Crook revealed this week that “Guimaraes, I think, will happen. Money will talk to him if he gets something close to or over £80m. I would expect that to go through.”

So, why should Lewis-Skelly be concerned about this move? After all, he has already spent a lot of money to sign Zubimendi.

Well, the reality is that the Newcastle captain has the ability to change the game in the middle of the park for the Gunners.

Indeed, Lewis-Skelly is exciting, raw and has a ball-handling ability that matches the best midfielders in the game. However, Guimaraes is more polished right now, he is a bigger leader and more complete than Arsenal’s youth.

Last term, the 28-year-old had the best season of his life in front of goal, scoring nine goals. He also provided seven assists in his struggles.

A no-nonsense shot-stopper, his arrival will be music to Nicolas Jover’s ears but also with incredible skill and a knack for making things happen in the final third, Guimaraes is an aggressive midfielder.

He won 6.20 duels per 90 minutes last term, enough to put him among the best 21% of midfielders in the Premier League. Lewis-Skelly, by comparison, only won 4.90 duels out of 90. And he has scored just once in 76 top-flight games at club level.

The Toon hero is on a different level and could easily slot into this Arsenal team alongside Rice.