Myles Lewis-Skelly’s mum admits she mixes him up with Arsenal team-mate during matches
'He's got a very similar build!'
Myles Lewis-Skelly could soon become one of the most recognisable faces in English football – but his own mum admits she often mixes him up with one of his Arsenal team-mates.
Mikel Arteta threw Lewis-Skelly straight in at the deep end back in September, with the 18-year-old making his first-team debut as a substitute in Arsenal’s 2-2 draw with Premier League champions Manchester City.
The versatile teenager made an instant impact despite only being on the pitch for a few minutes that day, even getting a reaction from Erling Haaland, who asked him, ‘Who the f*** are you?’, during a late scuffle at the Etihad.
Continuing to go from strength to strength in Arsenal’s colours this season, Lewis-Skelly has made a further 19 appearances in all competitions for his boyhood club – and last weekend he had the perfect response to Haaland’s mind games.
After scoring his first senior goal to put the Gunners 3-1 in front in north London, Lewis-Skelly sat down on the Emirates turf and imitated the Norwegian’s trademark ‘zen’ celebration, which has received some criticism in the days that have followed.
Already a first-team regular for one of the biggest teams in European football, Lewis-Skelly seemingly has the world at his feet and the latest reports suggest the youngster could be fast-tracked into Thomas Tuchel’s England squad.
‘Honestly, he’s surrounded by amazing people, family and friends, and he’s just a normal kid so not really,’ Lewis-Skelly’s mother, Marcia Lewis, told The Sports Agents podcast when asked about her son’s meteoric rise.
‘You get the usual banter. He’s still got to empty the dishwasher and tidy his room.
‘He’s a lovely boy but I don’t know anything else.
‘He’s just Myles and he’s very respectful.’
An embarrassed Marcia revealed that she sometimes struggles to tell the difference between Lewis-Skelly and Jurrien Timber during games as they have a ‘very similar build’.
‘Do you know what? Two things: I’m dyslexic and I have a really short attention span so it was all going a bit quick,’ she explained while replaying Arsenal’s 5-1 win over City in her head.
‘So I was like, “Oh…. oh!”, and sometimes I even struggle to work out where Myles is on the pitch.’
Asked whether she had caught the left-back’s goal against City, she replied: ‘I think so…
‘He’s got a very similar build to Timber so I get them mixed up!
‘Oh my god, did I really say that? Sorry Myles.’
Speaking on the It’s Called Soccer podcast, Gary Neville said he was reminded of his long-time Manchester United team-mate Patrice Evra when watching Lewis-Skelly burst down the left flank this season.
‘I just want to correct one thing. I said Ashley Cole on Sunday about Lewis-Skelly when he burst onto the scene,’ the legendary ex-United and England right-back said.
‘But the style of play of Lewis-Skelly, in terms of how he runs with the ball, is exactly like Patrice Evra.
‘Patrice Evra used to get the ball on the half-turn and go past people. People would bang him and he’d ride the challenge, go past them and you would think: “How’s he done that?!”
‘I think when he dribbles with the ball and he passes and he works his way into those inside positions, Patrice Evra was the very best at that I’ve seen in terms of that underlap and being in those left channels, he was unbelievable at it.
‘When he’s on the ball he does remind me a lot of Patrice.’
