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Ian Wright says Myles Lewis-Skelly has made £6m Arsenal player so much better

Charles Jones

Thu 17 April 2025 12:45, UK

Arsenal could genuinely go on and win the Champions League this season.

Arsenal were expected to lose to Real Madrid in the quarter-finals, but after a 5-1 win on aggregate, the sky is the limit for the Gunners.

The north London club could be in the middle of a season to remember, and one of the star performers this term has been Myles Lewis-Skelly.

Lewis-Skelly has earned massive praise in recent times, and, remarkably, the 18-year-old is also making his teammates even better.

Bukayo Saka makes Martin Odegaard a better player, and according to Ian Wright, Lewis-Skelly has a similar effect on Gabriel Martinelli.

Speaking on the Wrighty’s House Podcast, Wright has been discussing Lewis-Skelly and the impact he has on Martinelli.

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Myles Lewis-Skelly has made Gabriel Martinelli better

Wright spoke about the link-up between the two left-sided players.

The pundit said earlier this year that Riccardo Calafiori was making Martinelli better, and now, Lewis-Skelly is doing the same from left-back.

Wright says Martinelli is now looking back to his best.

“I think it gets, don’t you notice as well, just quickly, if you remember when Calafiori came into the team for that little spell, Martinelli almost seemed to like, you could see the flicker, like the flint hitting the wood. If something was happening, he started to be more involved and he looked more dangerous,” Wright said.

“And since Myles Lewis-Skelly’s been in the team, it’s no coincidence again, Martinelli all of a sudden is looking like the Martinelli that we always thought was coming and so finishing like he finished there and playing with that confidence where you think, this guy feels like he can take anyone on and score at any time he gets a chance.

“He’s got that kind of confidence about him. And I think that again, it’s because the left footed player on that same side as him, who can invert, go outside, let him come, is working wonders for him. Our left side works now.”

Gabriel Martinelli stats alongside Myles Lewis-Skelly

Wright says that Martinelli is looking back to his best alongside Lewis-Skelly, and while the Brazilian has improved, he still has some way to go to get back to his top level.

Indeed, while Martinelli has been criticised in recent times, we mustn’t forget that two years ago, the winger was one of the best wingers in the Premier League.

Lewis-Skelly has made the man more comfortable down that left flank as of late, but he has a long way to go before we can say he’s performing at his peak level.

Martinelli has the ability to be a gamechanger in this Arsenal team, and the fact that he has another gear to go to is an exciting prospect as we head into the business end of this campaign.

Arsenal are so close to Champions League glory, and a fully-firing Martinelli could well be the difference in these upcoming season-defining games.