Arsenal plan double summer deal for Mikel Arteta after Man Utd mistake admitted

Arsenal reportedly want to renew the contracts of Ethan Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelly after already opening talks with the former.

Both players have seen their breakthrough into the first-team with recognition of their performances from England this month. Lewis-Skelly has jumped from the under-19s straight to the senior team under Thomas Tuchel, while Nwaneri has skipped the under-20s - also known as the Elite League squad - and is now with the under-21s.

The Gunners now reputedly want to agree long-term deals with the pair. Lewis-Skelly is under contract until the end of next season, with Nwaneri having just 12 months more remaining than his team-mate.

Both are still on their first professional contracts, which Lewis-Skelly signed barely a week after turning 17 in October 2023, and Nwaneri penned his precisely a week after turning that same age five months later. A year on, the latter turns 18 on Friday, when he could make his England under-21 debut when they play a friendly against France in Lorient.

The Times reports Nwaneri is in talks to sign a contract longer than the three-year one signed last year, the maximum length a first professional deal can be. He and Lewis-Skelly are both due new deals, but so was Ayden Heaven before signing for Manchester United earlier this year.

football.london understands that Arsenal receive significant compensation for Heaven in the absence of a transfer fee as, unlike Lewis-Skelly and Nwaneri, he had yet to sign a professional contract. Mikel Arteta and the club are also understood to be more than happy with the existing Hale End talent.

In the aftermath of Heaven making his Premier League debut against the Gunners, these reports have emerged. Arsenal now appear to have plans in place so that such a situation does not happen to Lewis-Skelly or Nwaneri.