Mikel Arteta has new midfield option as Arsenal face summer transfer decision

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Evening Standard

·4 May 2026

Mikel Arteta has new midfield option as Arsenal face summer transfer decision

Mikel Arteta took a big risk with Myles Lewis-Skelly against Fulham - and it paid off

As Mikel Arteta alluded to in his post-match press conference, Myles Lewis-Skelly's first start in the Arsenal midfield was going to be a story whatever happened.

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Having made just three Premier League appearances in 2026, two of which were off the bench, Lewis-Skelly was thrown into midfield for the first time in the heat of the title race.

"It was a big risk because I knew what was going to happen," Arteta said.

"If it works, it's great. If we would have lost the game I know what would have happened. ‘How do you play a kid at this age, in this scenario, in a position that he hasn't played all season?’

"I knew that, but I had the feeling that it was the right game for him."

That decision paid off in a big way for Arteta. Lewis-Skelly was superb and a strong candidate for player of the match had Viktor Gyokeres not scored twice and provided an assist in Arsenal's 3-0 win over Fulham.

As proud as Arteta clearly was after the match, enjoying a long embrace with Lewis-Skelly on the pitch, there must also have been some regret.

In a season in which Arsenal have gone deep in all four competitions and the toll on the players has been so great, this only emphasised the feeling that Arteta could have done more to manage the minutes of his midfielders this season.

This match against Fulham was just the second time Martin Zubimendi has not started in the Premier League. That only other substitute appearance still involved more than an hour off the bench.

Unsurprisingly, in his first season in England without a winter break, Zubimendi's form has tailed off in the last couple of months and he has looked exhausted.

Prior to this weekend's fixtures, only Elliot Anderson, James Garner and Morgan Rogers had covered more distance in the Premier League this season.

Christian Norgaard was signed last summer to offer a back-up option but Arteta has not trusted him at all. The Dane has played 56 minutes of league football.

As if to emphasise that point, even with Arsenal 3-0 up against Fulham and a Champions League semi-final second leg against Atletico to come three days later, it was Zubimendi and not Norgaard brought on to give Declan Rice a rest in the final half an hour.

Lewis-Skelly, on this evidence, could have done a job this season in midfield.

That is not to say he must now start every match and replace Zubimendi in the side. Clearly, though, he is good enough to have been used there more - or at all - this season to manage the workload of the Spaniard or even Rice.

Martin Zubimendi has looked jaded in recent weeks

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Asked why he had been so reluctant to play Lewis-Skelly in midfield up to this point, Arteta said: “Probably I don’t have a clue.

“Maybe I should have done it earlier, I don’t know. I have to do things when I believe that the player is ready, the team is ready and the opponent is the right one."

Arteta did intend to play Lewis-Skelly in midfield against Wigan in the FA Cup before Riccardo Calafiori pulled out in the warm-up, but that is one match out of the 58 Arsenal have played this season.

It has been a mistake not to trust the teenager up to this point. Against Fulham, he was so composed in tight areas, using his body smartly to turn out of trouble and win fouls.

Lewis-Skelly won back possession six times, drew foul fouls and completed 64 of his 66 passes. He was a key part of Arsenal's most forward-thinking performance in months.

He is also the perfect foil for Calafiori, who was back in the side. Having played so much at left-back now, Lewis-Skelly had the instincts to drop back and slot in when the Italian marauded up the pitch.

There are now big decisions for Arteta and the club to make, not just in the final weeks of the campaign but next season and beyond.

Outgoings are expected at Arsenal this summer and Lewis-Skelly is one of those who has been linked with a move away. He would represent pure profit for the club having come through Hale End.