Jamie Carragher reacts to unthinkable Arsenal rumour regarding ‘special’ star

Jamie Carragher “can’t believe” Arsenal would consider selling a “special” star, with a pair of Premier League rivals linked wit the talent of late.

The Gunners won the Premier League last season and have been eyeing some big names this summer. They’ve signed Christos Tzolis, Bruno Guimaraes and made Piero Hincapie’s deal permanent.

Amid their move for Guimaraes, it was suggested Myles Lewis-Skelly, who played in midfield to good effect at the end of last season, could be sold, with it suggested he’d been offered to Chelsea and Manchester United.

Carragher, speaking on The Overlap Fan Debate, detailed his shock at those rumours.

He said: “That’s the thing that was a little bit strange about it. 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.

“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.”

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Lewis-Skelly was not offered out

However, claims that Lewis-Skelly was offered to the Premier League rivals have been denied by multiple outlets.

Each of Caught Offside, The Athletic and the Daily Mail all stated Arsenal had made no such offer.

Mark Brus, writing for the former, said: ‘I’ve double and triple checked this with my sources today, and, as I suspect has already been reported elsewhere, there is no desire for Arsenal to sell Lewis-Skelly, nor does the player himself wish to leave.

‘It’s been suggested that Chelsea and Man Utd have ‘rejected’ the 19-year-old, but that’s not accurate – you can’t reject a player who isn’t for sale and who isn’t looking for a move.’