Mikel Arteta believes the mounting speculation around Myles Lewis-Skelly's Arsenal future is a "good sign" for the club — even as Chelsea and Manchester United are linked with a move for the 19-year-old academy graduate.

With his game time potentially reduced following the arrival of Bruno Guimaraes, Lewis-Skelly has emerged as a reported target for both Chelsea and Manchester United. But the Arsenal head coach is far from concerned by the attention.

"If there is a speculation about our player, it's a good sign. That means that we attract attention and they're doing a good job," Arteta said.

A breakout star

Lewis-Skelly has made 75 senior appearances for the Gunners, contributing five assists and scoring once while operating as both a left-back and a midfielder. He struggled for minutes under Arteta last season but staked a strong claim for a starting role towards the end of the campaign.

His list of records is remarkable for a player still a teenager. At 19 years and 246 days, he became the second-youngest Englishman ever to start a Champions League final, behind only Liverpool's Trent Alexander-Arnold (19y 231d in 2018). He also has three starts in Champions League semi-finals, with only Iker Casillas and Kanu having started more such games as teenagers.

During the 2024-25 season, Lewis-Skelly became the youngest England player to score on his senior debut (18y 176d), surpassing Marcus Rashford's record of 18 years and 209 days set against Australia in May 2016.

A standout pre-season

The academy graduate scored in Arsenal's pre-season clash with Como on Wednesday, celebrating with emotional gestures towards the home faithful — something Arteta says he does not read too much into.

"It's good to score a goal, you should be emotional when you score a goal," said Arteta. "He's a very emotional player. I remember when he did all the gestures on the pitch [last season]. I'm not going to talk about any speculation."

Arteta was full of praise for his young charge's consistency during pre-season, noting he had been deployed in a more unfamiliar central midfield role.

"I think he had a really good pre-season. I think we asked him to play in a different position, because he played more as a six, because we lacked central midfielders, obviously with international duties, and I think he had a really consistent pre-season," Arteta added.