Theo Walcott considers Arsenal’s rising teenage stars, Ethan Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelly, to be among the top five young players in the Premier League right now.
The Gunners’ recent impressive form has been partly fueled by the enthusiasm and energy brought by these two new talents from the club’s prolific Hale End Academy.
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Both players scored in Sunday’s significant 5-1 victory over Manchester City, and Walcott is pleased to see his former teammate, Mikel Arteta, placing his trust in the next generation. ..Continue Reading
‘Ethan Nwaneri for me has started of his career very handsomely,’ the former England winger told BBC Sport.
‘Myles Lewis-Skelly has come into his own, they’re players who are here to stay at Arsenal and it’s great to see young talent coming through.
‘It’s very similar to the Arsene Wenger era when he used to bring young talent, so Mikel Arteta is doing something right and the academy too.’
The Arsenal duo are not the only young talents making waves in the league this season. Theo Walcott has been impressed by Brighton’s Carlos Baleba and Ipswich’s Liam Delap as well.
He also believes that Bournemouth’s Milos Kerkez will attract significant attention from Liverpool in the summer.
He said: ‘Carlos Baleba at Bright and Liam Delap who is a bit similar to and old school No.9 like Harry Kane. He always is a threat in behind and cuases defenders all sorts of problems. It’s not just that. It’s his attitude, he likes to work hard, gets a lot of goals.
‘Put him in a team, and no disrespect to Ipswich, that’s going to provide him a lot more chances but he’s going to have a very, very successful career. Not just for his club but for his country as well.
‘Finally, Kerkez, he’s a player I wouldn’t have fancied playing against because he can defend but also attack. He’s got pace and I’m sure Liverpool will be looking for a left-back at some point to replace Robertson.’
Lewis-Skelly has been the talk of the town after scoring his first goal for Arsenal on Sunday. Instead of the brilliance of his individual effort taking center stage, much of the discussion has revolved around his celebration.
Imitating Erling Haaland has drawn criticism from some pundits, but former Arsenal captain William Gallas thinks the young player was entirely justified in giving City’s prolific scorer a taste of his own medicine.
He told Prime Casino: ‘What a performance from a boy who has turned into a man. The Haaland celebration, the zen thing? We know he did it because of what Haaland said about him at the end of the match earlier in the season. ‘Who the F are you,’ Haaland said, well he knows now, that’s for sure. It was a bit provocative, but that is the spirit of the rivalry.
‘The Arsenal players will have remembered what Haaland did. Everyone is now talking about Lewis-Skelly, and rightly so because he had a great game against City. He was defending very well against his opponent. When you score in a big game, and at the end you win that game, everybody is going to speak about you.
‘His performances, not only against City, but whenever he has played have been excellent, but maybe he was flying under the radar a bit. That’s why for me, as a defender, it was always important to defend very well, but at the same time if I had the chance, I wanted to score because I know people are going to speak about me.
‘So that’s why people are now talking about Myles Lewis-Selly. It’s the same with Gabriel – when he had a good performance and he scored, everybody speaks about him. The young boy, Lewis-Skelly, I think he’s on the right path. He still has to improve, that is for sure.
‘He still has to improve his football, and to be the number one for a long time, because we’ve seen it happen to so many young players before, after one season when people speak about you, the media praises you, you can be a little bit more relaxed and lose your focus.
‘Football changes very quickly. There’s always a player ready to take your spot, and they are really hungry to be in the first team, so that’s why he has to keep his focus as much as he can.’
