‘It would be an incredible experience for them’ – Arteta on potential England call-ups for Lewis-Skelly and Nwaneri | OneFootball

Mikel Arteta backed Arsenal duo Myles Lewis-Skelley and Ethan Nwaneri to receive their first England call-ups under new boss Thomas Tuchel later this month.

Tuchel will name his squad next Thursday, and he has reportedly drawn up a shortlist of the 55 best English players to choose from.

On the potential of his young pair being called up, Arteta said: “Well, knowing Thomas and the coaching staff and the environment that they have created on the England campus, it will be an incredible experience for them.

“If that’s the case, whenever that is. That’s not my decision, that will be their decision. How we manage them here, it’s ours. It’s in our control. Down there, we’ll leave it to coaches and people that are super experienced. Much more experienced than me.”

Both youngsters have impressed for the Gunners this season having broken into the first team under Arteta.

Lewis-Skelly did have to be substituted in the 35th minute of Arsenal’s 7-1 thrashing of PSV, after being lucky not to receive a sending-off for a second yellow card, however. On the decision to take him off, Arteta said: “I think it was quite clear that we had a liability there, with the yellow card and the next action.

“So, it wasn’t a moment to take any risk, and learn from that experience managing the game for so long, especially with how important this competition is. A lesson to learn from him, for sure. We will support and help him. But, yeah, the line is really thin in the sport, and he needs to understand that.”

The Gunners take on Manchester United on Sunday. United poached young striker Chido Obi-Martin from the Gunners in the summer and the Arsenal boss said that was not his decision: “Yeah, I wasn’t too involved in that decision. Obviously, when a player decides that the best pathway for him is to leave, there’s not much you can do.

“Very unfortunate because we want to keep our players from the academy and to be very successful with the first team. But in that case, we weren’t able to do that.”