Henry calls it 'vital' Arsenal kept £45m academy star

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Thierry Henry has described it as "vital" that Arsenal held on to Myles Lewis-Skelly, with the club's record goalscorer insisting the academy pathway has to lead somewhere.

The 20-year-old was the subject of serious attention over the summer. According to football.london, Chelsea and Manchester United were both presented with the opportunity to sign the Hale End graduate, who carried a valuation of around £45million at the time. Chelsea are reported to have made an approach to their London rivals, with Arsenal having just spent £75m on Bruno Guimaraes from Newcastle.

Lewis-Skelly made his position clear: he wanted to stay at the Emirates and nail down a regular role in Mikel Arteta's side.

Henry: 'Otherwise what's the point having an academy?'

Speaking to Betway, Henry was asked how important it was that Arsenal kept the midfielder. "It's vital," he said. "As Arsenal fan, we like to see Bukayo Saka, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Max Dowman – and the list goes on – coming through and playing for Arsenal Football Club. It's very important. Along the way you're of course going to go and buy players, but it's always good to see successful academy players coming through and playing for Arsenal, otherwise what's the point having an academy?"

The Frenchman was keen to stress that the argument is not simply sentimental. "It's not just because Lewis-Skelly is from the academy, though, it's because he's performing and he helped us last year when it mattered. When Mikel [Arteta] dropped him into midfield, he answered the call right away."

Henry added: "He has carried on doing what he's doing, and you reward that performance. He's playing regularly and now he has been selected to hopefully go and play for England. That's all you can wish for."

Six appearances and an England role

Lewis-Skelly has featured six times for Arsenal this season, largely as a deep-lying midfielder rather than at left-back, the position in which he first broke through. He was an unused substitute in the 3-0 defeat at Brighton before the international break.

He has since started both of England's matches during the break under Thomas Tuchel, operating in midfield. His ability to cover at full-back remains a useful secondary option for both his club and country, though he is a central midfielder by trade.

Last season he made 36 appearances as Arsenal won the Premier League and reached the finals of both the Champions League and the Carabao Cup. Speaking last year, he laid out his ambitions: "I want a legacy. I want to win everything there is to win in the game. I want to win trophies on the biggest stages whilst being a person that's always learning and stays grounded, which is so important."

With Arsenal returning to domestic action after the break, Lewis-Skelly will be looking to build on his England minutes and continue the midfield run that convinced him to reject interest from elsewhere in the first place.