What's going on with Lewis-Skelly? The insiders reveal why he starts for England

This time a year ago, Myles Lewis-Skelly had not even made his Arsenal debut. It is a measure of his rapid rise that his exclusion from the starting lineup so far this season has become a point of concern.

Thrown into the first team last winter amid an Arsenal defensive injury crisis shorn of several players, Lewis-Skelly seized the opportunity and never looked back. He became Mikel Arteta’s go-to left back, starting 15 Premier League matches from December onwards, and even earned a call-up to the England senior team under Thomas Tuchel, scoring 20 minutes into his debut against Albania at Wembley.

At that stage, the only way for Lewis-Skelly seemed to be up - after all, records were tumbling around him as he fearlessly took down Real Madrid superstars Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo in a 5-1 aggregate thumping of Real Madrid in the Champions League quarter-finals.

Yet just a year later, Lewis-Skelly finds himself back on the bench at Arsenal — a dramatic shift, even as Tuchel continues to show faith in him at international level. After just 44 minutes across two substitute appearances for his club and not getting off the bench at all in the 1-0 defeat at Anfield, the 18-year-old started in England’s recent 2-0 World Cup qualifying win over Andorra.

He still has a strong chance of being the starting left back next summer in North America if he can fend off competition from Luke Shaw, Djed Spence and Newcastle duo Lewis Hall and Tino Livramento.

So, what’s happened at Arsenal? Well the primary factor is not so much Lewis-Skelly's fall as Riccardo Calafiori's rise.

Arteta recognises that the 23-year-old Italian has a lot more experience, and particularly as an out-and-out defender rather than a converted one, as Lewis-Skelly is.

Arsenal insiders say Calafiori has impressed staff in the way he has returned to training after battling back from injuries that limited him to 19 Premier League appearances in his debut season in north London after a £42million move from Bologna.

And despite Lewis-Skelly's greater comfort in midfield, having come through the Arsenal academy as a box-to-box powerhouse, Calafiori brings much to the table from an attacking perspective, too.

On average per league game last season, Calafiori provided more passes into the box (1.74 vs 1.18) and open play crosses (1.01 vs 0.66) than Lewis-Skelly. He also ranks higher per game in total shots (0.91 vs 0.2), shots on target (0.55 vs 0.07) and forward passes (13.17 vs 10.38).

Calafiori has been appearing higher and higher up the pitch, which was almost exposed by Bryan Mbeumo in the 1-0 win at Old Trafford - the goal coming from the Italian's head - but was crucial in the 5-0 win over Leeds, opening up passing lanes in midfield and allowing him to play a first-time through ball over the top for Viktor Gyokeres, who dribbled into the area and scored his first Arsenal goal.

But Lewis-Skelly won't be far behind in that role. New assistant coach Gabriel Heinze has been working hard with him on crossing balls into the box and how to better utilise attacking scenarios.

Heinze, a serial winner in his playing days with Manchester United, Real Madrid and Argentina, has the capacity to unlock this area.

And Lewis-Skelly has of course already shown how impressive he is in defence. Last season he won more duels on average per league game (6.04) than team-mates Gabriel (3.84), William Saliba (4.5), Jurrien Timber (4.94) and Calafiori (5.85).

The youngster highly impressed Arteta in his performances last season which went a long way towards Arsenal managing to finish second despite their defensive injury crisis.

He is dependable in tackles. His strong, athletic base allows him to deceptively wriggle away when under pressure and is comfortable on the ball.

He is also steely. Take receiving a forearm to the face at a corner kick by Crystal Palace’s Jean-Philippe Mateta, or his combative display to win man of the match as the second-youngest Arsenal player to start a north London derby in January; Lewis-Skelly transforms into another persona when in the line of battle.

And now he will need that steel as he faces his first real test in professional football. He's had bumps in the road, such as the abuse he faced after being sent off (erroneously, it was later proved) at Wolves in January, or when he saw red again against West Ham the next month.

And of course he had fired himself into the centre of attention by replicating Erling Haaland's celebration after scoring a wonderful solo goal in a 5-1 dismantling of Manchester City.

It was at City in September where he had first made a name for himself, earning a booking before even playing in a senior match for telling David Raya to waste time, before earning a 'who the f*** are you' from Haaland at full time when standing up to the Norwegian.

The notion that his future is any danger is fanciful - he signed a five-year deal at his boyhood club only a few months ago and is one of the jewels in the Arsenal academy's crown alongside Bukayo Saka, Max Dowman and his best friend Ethan Nwaneri.

As ever, context is key. Weeks before his debut at the Etihad last season, Lewis-Skelly was playing for the Arsenal Under 21s. He is internally seen as someone who, by a consequence of the injury crisis, has far surpassed where he should be at this stage of his development, and has surpassed everything they could have asked. His rise to the starting lineup last season was not foreseen.

With the World Cup looming next summer and clearly in Tuchel's thoughts, Lewis-Skelly will be desperate to wrestle his way back into the Arsenal team.