Myles Lewis-Skelly has just done something only three Arsenal players have ever bettered

Myles Lewis-Skelly turns 20 today and he is already keeping great company in the Arsenal record books.

The Hale End graduate could well be handed a start for England tonight against Spain, expected to partner Elliot Anderson in midfield after both Kobbie Mainoo and Declan Rice withdrew from the squad. He faces competition from Alex Scott and James Garner for a place in Thomas Tuchel’s starting XI.

If the Arsenal man does get the nod, it would mark his seventh England cap and his first since October 2025, when he was still nominally as a left-back.

It’s another example of how far Lewis-Skelly has come and how remarkable his Arsenal career already is at age 20. Having made 81 appearances for the club, only three players have ever made more appearances for Arsenal by the age of 20 — Cesc Fabregas with 151, and Bukayo Saka and Theo Walcott, both on 92. Not bad company, eh?

It’s strange to think he might have left North London had his unfavourable situation over six months ago not changed. But, in his own words, he went back to basics, and earned his way back into Mikel Arteta’s thinking. This season, he has embraced the Bruno Guimaraes challenge and used it to push himself and learn from his Brazilian counterpart.

As an interesting footnote to all of this, on the day Myles Lewis-Skelly was born in September 2006, Arsenal beat Porto 2-0 in the Champions League at the Emirates Stadium, with goals from Thierry Henry and Aleksandr Hleb. 20 years later, he is an important player for his boyhood club and in contention to start for his country against the world champions on his birthday.