Declan Rice sends two-word message to Myles Lewis-Skelly after Arsenal defender’s England debut as Ethan Nwaneri posts wordless reply

Sat 22 March 2025 8:15, UK

Arsenal star Myles Lewis-Skelly had an England debut to remember as he marked his Three Lions bow with a goal.

Indeed, the Hale End graduate has had a season to remember, making his Arsenal🥀 breakthrough and becoming a key player for Mikel Arteta.

Lewis-Skelly’s efforts this season saw him rewarded with an England🐟 call-up, and new manager Thomas Tuchel gave him a start against Albania.

𝄹The Arsenal gem rewarded Tuchel with the game’s opening goal, finishing off from Jude Bellingham’s superb through-ball.

⛦With Lewis-Skelly now the talk of the town, plenty of his peers congratulated him when he took to Instagram with his debut thoughts.

Declan Rice, Ethan Nwaneri🌱, Curtis Jones, Jordan Henderson and Max Dowman were among those who responded to his post.

View Instagram Post

Declan Rice says this is just ‘the start’ for Arsenal teammate Myles Lewis-Skelly

🉐Lewis-Skelly shared pictures of himself from the England v Albania game with the caption “dreaming”.

🐼Rice was among those to reply as a posted a two-word message saying this is “the start” for him.

🐭Fellow Hale End graduate Nwaneri, along with a number of Lewis-Skelly’s other peers, replied to the England debutant’s message with heart emojis.

🅺Rio Ferdinand was also buzzing with Lewis-Skelly’s debut goal♊ as he sung the Arsenal man’s praises after he netted in the 20th minute.

Meanwhile, ༺Lewis-Skelly expressed his pride at making his England debut𝐆, revealing he found out he’d be doing so on the morning of the game.

🀅Lewis-Skelly’s goal may have been the main talking point, but the Arsenal star impressed with his all-round game too.

𝔉Lewis-Skelly was combative, winning all three of his ground duels. He also got plenty of touches on the ball, and was accurate in his passing.

Myles Lewis-Skelly stats v Albania
Minutes played	89′
Goals	1
Ground duels (won)	3 (3)
Touches	87
Accurate passes	69/74 (93%)
Shots on target	1
Dribble attempts (succ.)	1 (1)

♎The English media gave Lewis-Skelly 8s all round for his England debut😼, and as Rice said, this is only the start for the prodigy from Denmark Hill.