Myles Lewis-Skelly receives stern warning from Tuchel Tuchel over Arsenal role

Thomas Tuchel has warned Myles Lewis-Skelly that his place in England’s World Cup squad could be at risk if he does not increase his playing time at Arsenal.

The 19-year-old was named in Tuchel’s squad for the friendly against Wales and World Cup qualifier in Latvia this month and is contention to be England’s starting left back next summer.

But at Arsenal Lewis-Skelly faces competition from Italy international Riccardo Calafiori, who appears to be Mikel Arteta’s first-choice, and the teenager is yet to start a game in the Premier League this season.

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Despite his lack of playing time, Lewis-Skelly was included ahead of Crystal Palace’s Tyrick Mitchell as part of a 24-player squad, as Tuchel named a similar group to last month’s wins over Serbia and Andorra.

But while Tuchel praised Lewis-Skelly’s “outstanding” impact in the squad so far and said the Arsenal academy graduate has plenty of “credit”, the England boss added that it may not be enough in the future.

“Maybe it becomes a problem for him, yeah,” Tuchel said when asked about Lewis-Skelly’s lack of starts for Arsenal this season. “To just be a good citizen in camp will not be enough over the course of a year.

“He was a very good player in camp, a very good team-mate in camp [last month]. But being a good team-mate in camp may not be good enough to stay the whole year with us.

"You have to perform at club level on a regular basis. In the last camp he got the credit, that I was convinced we have to take care of him and nominate him because we accelerated his career. It was our responsibility after we called him last season. So we stick to this.

“He was now part of a very successful camp so he gets the reward for that. But if you remember he was not part of the 20-man squad in the match in Serbia.

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“Still, his behaviour was outstanding, even if he was not part of the squad. His training, his attitude, his attitude to push and support the guys on the pitch was outstanding and of the highest level.

"He is one of the players who benefits from this decision, from sticking with the same squad, but the performances [for Arsenal] will be a key factor in the next month. He benefits also from the proximity of the camps and that [the last one] was three weeks ago.”