It’s too early to judge this summer’s recruitment at Manchester United, but it does feel as if the Old Trafford side have played it a little safe, once again failing to kick on following Champions League qualification.
Chelsea have spent big on Morgan Rogers. Arsenal have snapped up Bruno Guimaraes. Manchester City have forked out eye-watering sums for Elliot Anderson, Ayyoub Bouaddi and Enzo Fernandez.
Perhaps stung by prior transfer disasters, United, under this new INEOS regime, have been wary of truly breaking the bank, missing out on a string of leading targets including Anderson, Mateus Fernandes and Lewis Hall.
Arsenal’s Myles Lewis-Skelly fits into that category too, the 19-year-old likely to have been a valuable, versatile addition to Michael Carrick’s squad.
Why Man Utd didn’t sign Lewis-Skelly this summer
Lewis-Skelly’s journey so far at Arsenal has mirrored Kobbie Mainoo in many ways, having burst onto the scene in 2024/25, prior to fading from view last term, falling firmly down the pecking order at both left-back and central midfield.
It wasn’t until the tail-end of the campaign that the teenager forced his way back into Mikel Arteta’s plans, notably starting, and impressing, in the Champions League final defeat in May.
Even so, there had been a feeling that amid their pursuits of Rogers, Vinicius Junior and Julian Alvarez, the Gunners would potentially be willing to cash in on Lewis-Skelly to bolster the coffers.
In the view of The Athletic’s Laurie Whitwell, United were even considering lodging a bid as recently as 18 August, prior to pivoting back to Carlos Baleba, with INEOS informed previously that a deal could be done for £45m.
By all accounts, the player himself wanted to stay put, while an early-season injury to Bruno Guimaraes, albeit a minor one, saw Arteta and co harden their resolve regarding a potential sale.
|
Lewis-Skelly- First 2 PL Seasons |
||
|---|---|---|
|
24/25 |
Stat (*per game) |
25/26 |
|
23 |
Games |
20 |
|
15 |
Starts |
5 |
|
1 |
Goals |
0 |
|
0 |
Assists |
0 |
|
0 |
Big chances created |
0 |
|
0.3 |
Key passes* |
0.2 |
|
94% |
Pass accuracy* |
92% |
|
0.5 |
Succ. dribbles* |
0.4 |
|
1.3 |
Tackles & interceptions* |
0.7 |
|
0.04 |
Dribbled past* |
0.2 |
There was a feeling still that a £70m fee would have been enough to strike an agreement regardless, although that figure was never relayed to those at Old Trafford, as Jason Wilcox and co ultimately backed away from talks.
Baleba’s subsequent arrival more than makes up for that lack of progress, while perhaps United already have a Lewis-Skelly-esque figure of their own back at Old Trafford.
Man Utd already signed their own Lewis-Skelly
From Leny Yoro, to Senne Lammens to Andrey Santos, the INEOS regime so far has been littered with young, up-and-coming signings, a real change in tact from the days of Edinson Cavani and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
The Red Devils were notably pursuing Leicester City’s Louis Page on deadline day, although that deal fell through, while an initial fee of around £4m was splashed out on Tottenham Hotspur’s Tynan Thompson.
The hope will be that Thompson can prove just as influential as another teenage arrival from a ‘Big Six’ rival, in the form of Ayden Heaven, the towering centre-back joining from Arsenal back in January 2025.
A product of the Hale End academy, like Lewis-Skelly, Heaven never really got his chance in north London, making only a solitary competitive appearance for the Gunners at senior level.
Having moved to Manchester for a bargain fee of just £1m, the expectation was that he would merely slot into the academy ranks, with eyebrows raised when he was immediately categorised as a first-team signing from the off.
While injury derailed the end of that 2024/25 campaign, the left-footer was memorably immense on his first start against Real Sociedad, looking tailor-made for Ruben Amorim’s back three system.
The following season started slowly for Heaven, it must be said, having been involved in the Grimsby debacle, although he notably put in a Man of the Match display against Newcastle United, while also starring as part of a makeshift backline away at Stamford Bridge under Carrick’s watch.
Still only 19, like Lewis-Skelly, he even started the new season alongside Harry Maguire at centre-back, albeit while losing his place following a difficult outing against Hull City.
That shaky showing highlighted that he still needs to develop and progress, but like withLewis-Skelly at Arsenal, or Mainoo under Amorim, the course of a young player’s career never does run smooth.
Equally, too, the beauty of Heaven, like his former teammate, is his versatility, the 6 foot 4 starlet potentially a wildcard option at left-back, considering his speed and ball-carrying ability, while also mirroring Lewis-Skelly in having risen up through the academy as a number six or number eight.
He was even likened to a certain Paul Pogba by his grassroots football coach Terry Bobie, boasting the ability to drive forward from deep and glide his way past opponents, such a powerhouse figure in full flow.
‘He was a central midfielder, left-footed, very gangly, but good on the ball. He has that Paul Pogba-esque swagger. He doesn’t really rush things which you can see to this day. He is so relaxed and he just does things at his pace.”
Maybe his long-term future might even lie back in that role, but whatever the case, it’s difficult to argue with just what an astute move it was for INEOS to sign him on the cheap.
Arsenal may have held tight to Lewis-Skelly this summer, yet they’ve already let another potential star of the Premier League and of England slip from their grasp in Heaven.
