Thomas Tuchel has warned Myles Lewis-Skelly that he won’t be picked for England in the future if he does not start for Arsenal.
The German head coach named his latest England squad on Friday ahead of the friendly with Wales and World Cup qualifier against Latvia.
There were many surprise inclusions and exclusions, with Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Jack Grealish notably left out.
Lewis-Skelly retained his place, one of four Arsenal players in the squad, and was the only natural left-back to be picked, with Crystal Palace’s Tyrick Mitchell snubbed yet again.
While he has played brilliantly for club and country, Lewis-Skelly’s call-up is a tad controversial given he has not yet started a Premier League game this season, playing just 68 minutes off the bench
Get personalised updates on Arsenal everyday
Wake up to find news on your club in your inbox every morning with Metro’s Football Newsletter.
Sign up to our newsletter and then select your team in the link we’ll send you so we can get football news tailored to you.
Mikel Arteta has preferred Riccardo Calafiori at left-back, with the 19-year-old’s only two starts coming in the Carabao Cup against Port Vale and Champions League against Olympiacos.
Explaining his selection, Tuchel said he wanted to have a sense of continuity with the squad and praised what Lewis-Skelly had brought to the Three Lions camp.
But he warned the Gunners youngster that he must break into Arteta’s starting XI if he wishes to play at next summer’s World Cup in North America.
‘It maybe becomes a problem for him, yeah,’ Tuchel responded when asked about the defender’s lack of starts.
‘To just be a good citizen in camp will not be enough over the course of a year. He was a very good player in camp, a very good teammate but to just be a good teammate can maybe not be enough to stay the whole year with us.
‘Of course, you have to perform at club level on a regular basis. In the last camp he got the credit. I was convinced we had to take care of him and nominate him because he accelerated his career.
‘He was part of a very successful camp, so he gets the reward for that. But if you remember he was not part of the 20-man squad for the match in Serbia.
‘Still, his behaviour was outstanding even if he was not part of the squad. His training attitude, to push and support the guys who were on the pitch was outstanding and of the highest level.
Full England squad
Goalkeepers: Dean Henderson (Crystal Palace), Jordan Pickford (Everton), James Trafford (Man City)
Defenders: Dan Burn (Newcastle), Marc Guehi (Crystal Palace), Reece James (Chelsea), Ezri Konsa (Aston Villa), Myles Lewis-Skelly (Arsenal), Jarell Quansah (Bayer Leverkusen), Djed Spence (Tottenham), John Stones (Man City)
Midfielders: Elliot Anderson (Nottingham Forest), Morgan Gibbs-White (Nottingham Forest), Jordan Henderson (Brentford), Ruben Loftus-Cheek (AC Milan), Declan Rice (Arsenal), Morgan Rogers (Aston Villa)
Forwards: Jarrod Bowen (West Ham), Eberechi Eze (Arsenal), Anthony Gordon (Newcastle), Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), Marcus Rashford (Barcelona, loan from Man Utd), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa)
‘So, he’s one of the players who benefits from this position to stick with the same squad. But the performance will also be a key factor in the next month. He benefits also from the proximity of the camps that it [the last one] was only three weeks ago.’
England welcome Wales to Wembley on Thursday, October 9, before visiting Latvia on Tuesday, October 14.
Before that, Lewis-Skelly will be hoping to get his first league start of the season when Arsenal host West Ham on Saturday.