Paul Scholes thinks Arsenal should avoid selling Myles Lewis-Skelly in a repeat of a Manchester United transfer that he “hated”.
With Arsenal still in the market for a centre-back, winger and/or striker, they are reportedly looking to raise funds via exits, and Lewis-Skelly is among those linked with a departure.
Lewis-Skelly was one of Arsenal’s standout performers in the final weeks of last season, but he was otherwise only a bit-part player.
He also faces being further down the pecking order following the arrivals of Bruno Guimaraes and Piero Hincapie, but Scholes thinks Arsenal should be looking to keep him.
This is partly because Scholes thinks Arsenal and other clubs should be looking to keep their young players.
“I prefer Myles Lewis-Skelly in centre midfield to Zubimendi,” Scholes said on The Overlap Fan Debate.
READ: Lewis-Skelly and Man Utd man among usurped players who might have regrets
“I think Zubimendi struggled last year. If there’s one player you are going to get rid of, it would be him.”
He added: “It reminds me a little bit of when Danny Welbeck left Manchester United. I hated it, didn’t like it.
“Now, Danny was a little bit older than Myles Lewis-Skelly, but when you’re losing your own players, it’s disappointing.”
Jamie Carragher “can’t believe” Myles Lewis-Skelly reports
Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher has also been puzzled by reports linking Lewis-Skelly with an exit from Arsenal.
“That’s the thing that was a little bit strange about it,” Carragher said.
“It felt almost like Arsenal offered Manchester United Myles Lewis-Skelly.
“It wasn’t Myles Lewis-Skelly saying, I want to leave, or his people putting something out. That’s where the shock came from, not so much the players’ side of it.”
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He continued: “I still can’t believe it.
“Obviously, last season wasn’t great for him for the whole season, but when a young player has already put in performances like I’ve seen him put in at the Bernabeu – maybe over a year or 18 months ago, at left-back, he was running the game at the Bernabeu – and then his performance in the final in central midfield against Paris Saint-Germain.
“You can’t play at that level unless you’re pretty special at that age. All young players have ups and downs. Last season he didn’t play as much as he probably would have liked.
“But his ceiling is so high for the performances he’s already put in as a 20-year-old kid.
“I couldn’t believe that Arsenal would even think about letting him go. It does feel like a strange one.”