Telegraph: Arteta plays a key "anchor" role in Skelly s contract renewal

June 27, The Telegraph published an article introducing Arteta's role and role in Skeley's renewal.

Arteta's usual rhetoric when responding to Arsenal player contract issues is to push the problem to club executives. However, the actual situation behind the scenes is different. Arteta participates in all contract decisions and plays a special role in player negotiations. According to the Telegraph exclusively, this feature is particularly evident in the negotiations with Skelly.

The signing of this five-year new contract is of great significance to Arsenal. Not only because the 18-year-old Skelly's original contract expires in 2026, but also because the youth training product that joined the Gunners' youth training at the age of eight and now firmly ranks in the first team and the England national team represents the club's future. The negotiations lasted for several months, and the situation was complicated by the change of club management during which the situation began with the interim sports director Jason Eto after Edu left office, and continued until March Berta took office.

For clubs that are discussing renewals with core stars, the change of sports directors is not an ideal situation. Arsenal needs to ensure the consistency of negotiation strategies and avoid the swing of policies due to personnel changes, and Arteta played a key stabilizing role in this process. It is understood that James King, the director of football operations who returned in November last year, also made an indelible contribution. This executive, who once served as general counsel for the Professional Players' Union, formed a golden combination with Arteta with his deep understanding of the players' demands.

In fact, Berta does not need to intervene in the negotiations too much, which is due to King's precise control of the process, and also to the deep bond between Skeley and the club. Although the final timing of the contract coincided with Berta's term, the Italian wisely chose to delegate power. European teams did have an interest in Skelly, who might become a free agent next year, but contacts quickly realized where the heart of this young man who had been a Gunner since childhood was a kid. The negotiations of the player are led by his mother Marcia Lewis. The mother, who received a call from her son at the age of 11, became a certified agent by pursuing a master's degree in football business and founded the No1Fan.club platform that supports the parents of youth training players. In the negotiations, she naturally has the advantage of understanding her son's professional demands.

The new season means Skelly's advancement from breaking through to gaining a foothold, and the club and England's left-back position are his goals. As the 2026 World Cup approaches, he has started three of the last four national team games, which is a popular candidate. The experience of the Paris Fashion Week show this summer confirms the trajectory of this star's rapid rise in the greenery inside and outside.