Arteta Loves the Buzz: Lewis-Skelly Speculation Is a 'Good Sign' — and He Backed It Up

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta isn't sweating the rumors. In fact, he's practically inviting them.

With Myles Lewis-Skelly suddenly in the gossip crosshairs — Chelsea and Manchester United sniffing around, according to recent reports — Arteta fired back with a cool, calm, and totally unbothered response: bring it on.

'It's a good sign', Arteta said when asked about the chatter. "If there is speculation about our players, it's a good sign — that means our players attract attention and are doing a good job."

Emotional Night at the Emirates

The 19-year-old England international made his point on the pitch Wednesday, starting in midfield against Como at the Emirates. And when he buried Arsenal's goal, he didn't hold back — a heart sign to the crowd, then a tap of the badge on his way back to the center circle.

Arteta loved every second of it.

"It's good to be emotional after scoring, you should be emotional when you score a goal," he said. "He's a very emotional player, you see with his gestures on the pitch."

That emotion was a reminder of what Lewis-Skelly brings — even after a season where he found himself third-choice at left back behind Riccardo Calafiori and Piero Hincapié. He started just five Premier League games last term, but finished the campaign with a resurgence in his more natural central midfield role.

Midfield Logjam? No Problem

Here's the twist: Arsenal are absolutely loaded in that area now. Bruno Guimarães just arrived in a £75 million mega-deal from Newcastle, joining Declan Rice, Martin Ødegaard, World Cup winners Martín Zubimendi and Mikel Merino. You'd think that would push Lewis-Skelly further down the pecking order.

Not so fast, says Arteta.

"He's had a really good preseason," the boss added. "We asked him to play in a different position because he played more as a No. 6 — we obviously lacked midfielders from international duty — and I think he had a really consistent preseason."

Meanwhile, Guimarães made his Gunners debut as a halftime substitute against Como — then calmly slotted his penalty in the shootout as Arsenal won after a 1-1 draw.

"He's only had three training sessions, but he looked good," Arteta said. "He was really pushing to play some minutes today, get his debut and get the feeling of playing in front of our fans immediately. He's a player that will make us better, without a doubt."

More to Come?

Don't expect Arsenal to press the brakes this summer. Arteta made it crystal clear the club still wants to strengthen before the window shuts.

"There is more that we want to do, because every time we have an opportunity to improve the squad and bring more quality and depth, we need to do that," he said. "We're actively trying to do so — the thing is in the market, it doesn't just depend on you, and we're very clear on that. The will and the desire of the club is unquestionable, but we cannot promise that we're going to do it because it doesn't only depend on us."

First up for the Gunners? A Sunday showdown with Manchester City in the Community Shield at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium. And trust Arteta to have his squad locked in.

"I think we were able to tick a lot of boxes with the circumstances of the World Cup and the amount of players that we had abroad," he said. "It has brought some good strengths, but there are a lot of lessons to take and we're going to be ready for Sunday."

Translation: The noise outside is fine. The focus inside is all that matters.