Myles Lewis-Skelly: England to step up scouting of Arsenal left back

The 18-year-old starred against the Premier League champions Manchester City on Sunday and Thomas Tuchel has personally checked on his progress at least twice.

England are to step up scouting missions on Myles Lewis-Skelly after the teenage left back’s eye-catching emergence at Arsenal.

The new head coach Thomas Tuchel has already personally checked on the progress of the 18-year-old on at least two occasions and Lewis-Skelly’s display in the 5-1 win over Manchester City will have further endeared him to the England set-up.

He scored the third goal in the dismantling of Pep Guardiola’s side and then celebrated by mimicking Erling Haaland’s “zen” pose which served as a pointed response to the City striker asking who he was when the teams met earlier this season.

Tuchel is believed to have reservations regarding the age of Lewis-Skelly, who is yet to even play for England’s under-21s. He has played only 554 minutes of Premier League football.

However, Tuchel’s 18-month contract up to the World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico in 2026 is about the here and now, having been tasked by the FA with winning the tournament and putting “a second star” on the England jersey.

Left back has become a problem position for England because of Luke Shaw’s injury issues, with the right-footed Kieran Trippier filling in for the most part during Euro 2024.

The emergence of Newcastle United’s Lewis Hall during the recent Nations League qualifying campaign eased that issue slightly, while Ben Chilwell’s prospective loan move from Chelsea to Crystal Palace could enable him to return to the fold; the 28-year-old is a player Tuchel knows well from his time in charge at Stamford Bridge.

The German head coach was not present at the Emirates on Sunday having opted to instead go to the Milan derby where Kyle Walker made his first appearance for AC Milan after his loan move from Manchester City.

Walker is understood to have contacted Tuchel before his switch to Italy to discuss whether that would affect his England chances. The 34-year-old has won 93 caps and wants to prolong his international career in order to become his country’s latest centurion.

His new team were held to a 1-1 draw after their city rivals Inter equalised three minutes into added time through Stefan de Vrij.

Tuchel will name his first England squad next month for the World Cup qualifiers against Albania and Latvia at Wembley on March 21 and 24 respectively.