Jamie Carragher has voiced his disbelief that Arsenal would ever contemplate offloading Myles Lewis-Skelly, after reports emerged linking the young midfielder with moves to Manchester United and Chelsea.

The rumours surfaced in the context of Arsenal's pursuit of Bruno Guimaraes, with suggestions that Lewis-Skelly — who featured in central midfield to considerable effect toward the end of last season — had been offered to their Premier League rivals. Multiple outlets, however, have since firmly denied those claims.

Carragher's shock at the rumours

Speaking on The Overlap Fan Debate, Carragher made no attempt to hide his astonishment. "It felt almost like Arsenal offered Manchester United Myles Lewis-Skelly," he said. "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."

The former Liverpool defender pointed to two performances in particular as evidence of Lewis-Skelly's exceptional ceiling. "When a young player has already put in performances like I've seen him put in at the Bernabeu — 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," Carragher said. "You can't play at that level unless you're pretty special at that age."

Carragher acknowledged that last season had not been Lewis-Skelly's most productive, with the youngster featuring less frequently than he might have hoped. Yet the pundit argued that a difficult spell should never be grounds for considering the sale of a player with such evident quality. "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," he added.

Reports denied by several outlets

Caught Offside, The Athletic, and the Daily Mail have all stated that Arsenal made no formal approach to sell Lewis-Skelly. Writing for Caught Offside, Mark Brus said he had verified the situation with his sources and found no desire from the club — or the player — to pursue a departure.

"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," Brus wrote, drawing a line under the speculation.