‘Driven’: Jack Wilshere shares who out of Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ethan Nwaneri is actually a ‘natural leader’

Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ethan Nwaneri have been revelations since breaking through into the first-team at Arsenal.

Lewis-Skelly, 18 and Nwaneri, 17 have earned rave reviews for their displays as well as the pair look incredible mature for their tender ages and ready for senior football.

Joe Cole tipped Nwaneri to become a “genius” and predicted him to play for England for the “next 10 or 15 years.” While Antonee Robinson hailed Lewis-Skelly as it is becoming difficult to play down how brilliant he already is.

Both Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ethan Nwaneri are the perfect representatives of the prodigious talent pouring out from the Gunners’ academy — with both youngsters being technically gifted, intelligent and physically developed. Norwich City coach Jack Wilshere had the chance to work with both players when he was managing Arsenal’s Under-18 side.

Jack Wilshere says Myles Lewis-Skelly is a “leader” but Ethan Nwaneri is “really driven”

Wilshere, who was an exceptional young player himself would have seen parts of himself in both Lewis-Skelly and Nwaneri. In fact, Jack Wilshere is a fan of Lewis-Skelly in midfield where he is yet to get his feet wet in Arsenal’s first-team due to being deployed as a left-back by Mikel Arteta.

While Wilshere revealed Arteta admired Nwaneri for ages after having worked with the pair.

Speaking about both players’ personalities and playing styles, Jack Wilshere revealed that while Lewis-Skelly is more of a team player and a “natural leader”, Nwaneri is “really driven” and goes out of his way to speak to coaches to find new ways to improve.

Jack Wilshere told The Athletic: “He’s [Lewis-Skelly] the type of person who wants to be in a team, wants to lead, and he has an incredible family around him. That’s important as well, he’d be able to handle that.

“They could pick the ball up in any situation and make something happen.”

“They are very different. Myles is very team-oriented and more of a natural leader. He wants to bring everyone with him, whereas Ethan is just really driven. He’d come and seek advice from coaches.
“In the world we live in now, with social media and all these other distractions for players, it’s harder. Some players get distracted, but Ethan and Myles were never like that.”

Wilshere added: “I was lucky because, when I first started in the team, it was Ethan and Myles. They were doing things that none of the other players could do. You could see and measure where they were versus where they [the other youngsters] were. That helped me understand that these two are probably going to play for Arsenal, and then this group of players here, which is just as important, we need to find a way of making them have a career.

Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ethan Nwaneri compared to Wilshere at the same age

Despite how talented Lewis-Skelly and Nwaneri are, perhaps many many still argue that Jack Wilshere is the most gifted youngster to have emerged from Arsenal’s academy in years.

The retired midfielder was a truly special player and had it not been for injuries, he would have possibly gone on to become a world-class player.

But at the same age, Jack Wilshere had played more than Lewis-Skelly but not Nwaneri and the statistics prove that to be the case.

However, the fact that Nwaneri is one more appearance while Lewis-Skelly has just one less than Wilshere emphasises how special both young talents really are.