Lee Dixon on Marcus Rashford and Myles Lewis-Skelly Swap
Lee Dixon would do it. No hesitation, no caveats dressed up as diplomacy.
Asked if he would swap Arsenal starlet Myles Lewis-Skelly for Marcus Rashford, the former Gunners defender gave the kind of answer that turns a hypothetical into a headline.
“You know what, I probably would,” Dixon told BestBettingSites. Not because he doubts Lewis-Skelly’s talent, but because he sees a crossroads in two careers – and a manager in Mikel Arteta who could change the course of one of them.
Rashford, Arteta and the power of a reset
Dixon framed the idea not as Arsenal discarding a prospect, but as a chance for both players to breathe.
For Lewis-Skelly, it would be “giving him the freedom to go and expand his game elsewhere.” For Rashford, it would be about something far more delicate: rebuilding a player who has drifted from the centre of the stage to the edges of the conversation.
Rashford, Dixon argued, is a footballer who “needs an arm around his shoulder,” and there are few managers in the modern game more associated with detailed man-management than Arteta. The image is clear: Rashford on that left flank, trusted, encouraged, given licence to attack rather than overthink.
“Give him that love, give him the freedom to play on that left side, and yeah, I'd like to see him in an Arsenal shirt,” Dixon said. He did not pretend Rashford is flawless. “I have my reservations about whether he's consistently a top-class player,” he admitted, but judged against Arsenal’s current options, he still believes the England international “would be a good addition.”
It’s a bold endorsement, and it lands at a time when Rashford’s United story feels strangely paused.
A star on hold at Old Trafford
The numbers tell you one thing; the timeline tells you another.
Rashford has 426 appearances for Manchester United. He reached 138 goals for the club after a brace against Everton in December 2024. Those are the figures of a frontline figure, a player who has carried expectation at Old Trafford for the best part of a decade.
Yet his last outing came not in a title chase or a cup final, but in a Europa League tie against Viktoria Plzen on 12 December 2024. Since then, nothing. Eighteen months out of the picture. No goals, no cameos, no new memories for a fanbase that once sang his name as the symbol of a new era.
Out of sight, but not out of mind. Around Old Trafford, Rashford remains a constant talking point: is this a lull, a permanent fade, or the calm before a resurgence?
Michael Carrick, now in the United dugout, sits at the heart of that question. If he can find the right role, the right structure, the right words, Rashford could feel less like a returning squad player and more like a new signing dropped into a familiar shirt. A “fresh addition,” as the line goes, without a transfer fee attached.
That’s the gamble Dixon would take: Arsenal betting on a reset under Arteta, United betting on a revival under Carrick. One career, two possible rebuilds. Which club dares to lean into it first?
