Arsenal Invincible says two of Mikel Arteta’s latest young stars should be given five to six year contracts | OneFootball

Arsenal Invincible Ray Parlour has urged Arsenal to hand young Gunners Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ethan Nwaneri long-term contracts to secure their future at the club.

Arsenal’s season has been lifted by the emergence of Hale End Academy stars Lewis-Skelly and Nwaneri and now it is up to the Arsenal board to keep them.

That is the view of fellow Academy product Parlour, who came through the ranks to be one of Arsenal’s most decorated players of the Premier League era.

“Securing their long-term future is pretty key,” Parlour said. “As much as you want to bring new players into the club, you’ve got to keep your best players as well. It will certainly be on their radar to say, look, we’ve got to tie them down here to five or six-year contracts, no doubt about that.”

The former England midfielder, speaking on behalf of NetBet Sports Betting, also thinks new sporting director Andrea Berta will be just as keen to get the likes of Bukayo Saka, Gabriel and William Saliba to extend their current Arsenal contracts as soon as is practically possible.

But Parlour’s main focus was on the teenage pair now making an impact on the international stage as well as for their club. While Nwaneri marked his England under-21 debut with a goal in the latest round of internationals, Lewis-Skelly achieved at an even higher level by winning his first two senior England caps, scoring on his first appearance too.

Parlour added: “It’s amazing, really,  Myles  has got good people around him, which is so important. I sat next to his mum at the Dennis Bergkamp tribute night and I said ‘just be careful with all the agents and all that sort of stuff.’. She said how she had done all of her qualifications and was looking after him so that that is good to keep it in the family. She understands what he’s got to do and how he must keep working hard.”

“Those two coming through is an absolute result for Arsenal and Mikel Arteta. You always want your homegrown players coming through. It’s very, very important that the other players in the academy see players getting an opportunity because it gives them a little bit of a lift as well. They will think ‘if we’re good enough we can get an opportunity.’

“I think Myles and Ethan have really shocked everyone this season. Sometimes you need that little bit of luck with certain injuries and they’ve obviously been training well with  the first team. Mikel has probably said ‘I’m going to have to give them a go.’ And they haven’t looked back.

“I’m really pleased for them.  It’s great for the fans as well because they always want to see homegrown players coming through the ranks.

“This is still early in their careers. It’s a big, long, hard route in front of them to be top, top stars  of football going forward. But if they can get the right people around them and  keep working hard in training, which Mikel Arteta will demand, I’m sure,  then they can be superstars. They’ve got everything going for them.”