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Ray Parlour believes that Myles Lewis-Skelly and his agent will be seeking clarity from Mikel Arteta over his future after falling down the pecking order this season.

The versatile Arsenal star, 19, enjoyed a breakout 2024-25 campaign, appearing in 42 games for the Gunners and nailing down the left-back berth. Riccardo Calafiori has usurped Lewis-Skelly this term, though, with the teenager starting just one Premier League match.

Lewis-Skelly was rewarded for his fine form with a new contract back in the summer. But Parlour, a member of the Arsenal Invincibles, has warned Arteta that Lewis-Skelly and his agent will want 'showdown talks' with the Spaniard after a season spent on the sidelines.

“I’m sure there will be, I’m sure he and his agent will be going to see Arteta and asking what the future looks like,” Parlour told The Metro when he was asked if Lewis-Skelly would be seeking reassurances in the summer.

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“I don’t think they will want him to leave. There might be a loan situation. Hincapie has been a brilliant signing and of course Calafiori is a top player and is first choice.

“There is a lot of competition. You want to keep your young players but people get frustrated when they are not playing. He has to bide his time.”

A dearth of Premier League starts could yet see Lewis-Skelly struggle to make England's World Cup squad, even though Thomas Tuchel handed the youngster his senior international debut last season.

Speaking after leaving Lewis-Skelly out of his squad for the November internationals, Tuchel warned: “Myles was a very good team-mate and played for us in the last camp in the World Cup qualifier in Riga, so was Ruben Loftus-Cheek, so was Morgan Gibbs-White and James Trafford.

“But I said last time there is a component to it that it’s about competition and performance and the door is always open for guys who perform on a regular and high level.

“Myles, Ruben and Morgan got out-performed by Nico O’Reilly, Alex Scott, Nick Pope and Jude in their positions.

“Myles simply needs more starts, more minutes. Now it came a time when Nico O’Reilly had so many starts in that position, so he is slightly ahead for this camp.”

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