What really happened when Myles Lewis-Skelly was ‘offered out’ during the summer

The Myles Lewis-Skelly saga was an anxiety-inducing one for Arsenal fans this summer.

When reports emerged that Lewis-Skelly had been offered to Chelsea and Manchester United, Arsenal fans were understandably stunned, angry and confused.

Selling him would have been unforgivable after how he played his way back into Mikel Arteta’s plans, to the extent that he got the nod to start in midfield for the Champions League final.

Now Hand of Arsenal have revealed what was actually going on with all that noise.

“They explored the sale of Myles via Kia to understand his market value,” they report. “Myles always said he wanted to stay. He is settled now, and the matter is closed.”

In other words, Kia Joorabchian, who we’re all familiar with by now and the agent who played a key role in the Bruno Guimaraes deal, was used to test the market and understand what Lewis-Skelly might command.

By the sounds of it, it wasn’t a genuine attempt to sell him.

Arsenal will paint it as due diligence regarding one of their most valuable assets at a time when they were under pressure to generate sales.

Lewis-Skelly himself never wanted to leave. He made that clear throughout. But Arsenal never received an offer that even tempted them anyway.

Myles Lewis-Skelly has earned his Arsenal starting spot

Hand of Arsenal say ‘the matter is closed’ but Lewis-Skelly’s performances have made the conversation irrelevant anyway.

He has started all three of Arsenal’s competitive games this season, including both Premier League fixtures and the Community Shield.

His wonderful assist for Riccardo Calafiori’s opener after 23 seconds against City set the tone for what has been a perfect start to the campaign.

Arteta now has a huge selection headache, but it a is very welcome one. Bruno Guimaraes was excellent when he replaced Lewis-Skelly against Villa.

And he wasn’t the only one. Martin Zubimendi looked refreshed and remotivated in his cameo coming on for Declan Rice.

Arteta has four top-class midfielders competing for those two spots now, and that’s without even factoring in Mikel Merino who’s likely to take on a more attacking role this season.

But right now, it’s Lewis-Skelly’s spot to lose. Arteta always wanted to keep him this summer. The noise was, in the end, exactly that. Just noise.