Arteta urges calm on England call-up calls for Arsenal starlet

Mikel Arteta has urged caution on suggestions that Arsenal youngster Myles Lewis-Skelly could earn himself an England call-up from new manager Thomas Tuchel.

Lewis-Skelly has earned rave reviews for his performances in recent weeks and he impressed again in the north London derby win over Tottenham Hotspur in midweek.

However, Arteta insists he should be allowed to settle after breaking into the Arsenal starting line up more regularly and continuing to develop before being used in international football.

“Let him settle where he is first and talk about the realities going in front of him and deal with that, and I think that is more than enough for now.”

The Spaniard revealed a discussion with the youngster about a position change from midfield to full-back that allowed him to flourish: “The moment that I saw him, the only way that I could think [he could get into the team] was to change his position.

“If you want to have a chance here, I spoke to him and I said, ‘This is where you’re going to have [a chance]’ because I think it fits a lot of his qualities, it fits the way that we play and it fits because we had necessities in that position.

“So we started to work on that, and he worked at it straight away with the personality that he has.”

The teenager could be in line for another start as the Gunners face Aston Villa on Saturday and welcome former manager Unai Emery back to the Emirates Stadium.

Arsenal go into the match four points behind league leaders Liverpool, having played a game more, and know only three points will do if they are to chase down Arne Slot’s side, who travel to Brentford.

“It’s always important to win and capitalise on other teams when they don’t win. It’s always a good week. We need many more of those because of where we are and stay very focused.”