The pair of academy graduates have been heavily involved in the Arsenal first team this season. Between them they've made a combined eight appearances, with two of those coming as starters.
Nwaneri has long been ear-marked as a star at Arsenal, and has impressed in cameos against Leicester and Bournemouth when the Gunners have been chasing the game. Lewis-Skelly, meanwhile, was given a huge vote of confidence on Tuesday night when he was chosen ahead of Oleksandr Zinchenko to replace the injured Riccardo Calafiori.
"They are there," the Spaniard said. "They are in contention. They always give us the option and the possibility to start the game.
"Myles came on the other night and he did really well. Ethan the same. They are first-team players. They are with us and we treat them and value the same way as any other player."
The pair have been praised for their adaptation to first team football. Lewis-Skelly was booked before even making his first appearance at Manchester City and could be seen squaring up to Erling Haaland at the full time whistle. Nwaneri meanwhile was trusted to see out September's North London Derby win at Tottenham and scored twice on his first senior competitive start against Bolton.
Arteta believes this is down to a fearless mentality that the pair possess. The Spaniard is keen to channel this to galvanise the Arsenal support.
"Yes, for sure, [fear] is something, that they don’t feel much - especially those two - and that is something really positive," he said. "It brings the crowd together as well, it creates energy in the team, that’s something really good."
Arteta is keen to avoid over-exposing the youngsters though. Both are likely to be involved when the Gunners travel to Preston in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night, and Arteta has suggested that he will carefully pick and choose when is right to play the pair.
"It is about throwing them in the best moment," he said. "With the right players around them, which is something really important as well."
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