Whilst David Raya and Ethan Nwaneri are receiving new shirt numbers for the 2025/26 campaign, Myles Lewis-Skelly has opted to stick with 49, according to a report.
Along with the release of Arsenal’s new home kit for the 2025/26 campaign on Thursday, the club also confirmed a couple of planned squad number changes.
David Raya will trade 22 for number one, with the club pointing out he’s already been Mikel Arteta’s first-choice goalkeeper for two seasons now.
With Raya leaving 22 vacant, Ethan Nwaneri will snap it up. Nwaneri had worn 53 this season, but he’ll trade his academy number for a first-team number to reflect his progression into regular senior football.
The obvious question raised by that change was whether Myles Lewis-Skelly would do the same.
Like Nwaneri, Lewis-Skelly has been wearing an academy number (49) this season, but he’s a fully-fledged first-team footballer now. So it surprised some that Arsenal didn’t also confirm a switch for the young England international.
Fans speculated that perhaps Lewis-Skelly was eyeing up the number three shirt, currently worn by Kieran Tierney. Tierney will leave for Celtic this summer, but Arsenal may feel it’s in poor taste to give away his number before he’s officially gone.
Charles Watts reports that the actual answer is that Lewis-Skelly just didn’t want to change. He’s aware of the significance of the number 49 to Arsenal, so he wanted to stick with it.
Arsenal fans mark their 49-game Premier League unbeaten run among the club’s finest achievements, regularly singing “49, 49, undefeated” in the stands.
This season, those supporters have often adapted the chant to sing “49, 49, Lewis-Skelly” instead. It seems those chants can now continue for another season.