Lewis-Skelly scored the opener in Arsenal's 1-1 draw with Cesc Fàbregas' Como at the Emirates on Wednesday, a result settled in Arsenal's favour 4-3 on penalties, and marked the moment by flashing a heart gesture to all four stands and tapping the badge on his chest.
It came a day after it was reported that both Chelsea and Manchester United had been offered the chance to sign the 19-year-old, and Arteta was quizzed directly on the celebration and the speculation surrounding it.
"He's a very emotional player, I remember when he did all the gestures on the pitch, so I'm not going to talk about any speculation," Arteta said.
"If there is a speculation about our player, it's a good sign. That means that we attract attention and they're doing a good job."
Arteta explained the thinking behind keeping Lewis-Skelly in central midfield throughout pre-season, a role change forced partly by circumstance.
"I think we asked him to play in a different position, because he played more as a six, because we lacked central midfielders, obviously with international duties, and I think he had a really consistent pre-season," he said.
The manager was similarly effusive about 16-year-old Marli Salmon, who played almost the entire match at centre-back.
"First of all, the courage that he plays with, and second, how fast he learns, because sometimes at that age it takes weeks and months to develop certain things. He picks things up really quickly. He's a really smart boy, he really wants it," Arteta said, calling some of his individual actions "exceptional."
Pressed on whether Salmon is ready to challenge for regular first-team minutes, Arteta was candid about the role circumstance has played in his opportunities.
"He's in and around the first team. We know that, obviously, the circumstances are what they are. That's the context that is allowing him to play more minutes. If there were other players, it would be more difficult. That doesn't mean that he wouldn't get the chance to do so."
Ethan Nwaneri also caught Arteta's eye after a difficult loan spell at Marseille last season.
"Probably what happened on the field, on his loan in Marseille, wasn't what was expected. There was a lot of noise and change around the club. But he looks different. He looks more mature," Arteta said. "I'm very happy with what he's done in pre-season."
On the club's summer business, Arteta stopped short of promising further additions despite having pledged to be "ruthless" at the end of last season.
"There is more that we want to do because every time we have an opportunity to improve the squad and bring more quality and depth to the squad, we need to do that. But we are actively trying to do so," he said.
"The thing in the market, it doesn't just depend on you and we are very clear on that. But the approach, the will and the desire of the club, that's unquestionable and we want to try to do that. But we cannot promise that we're going to do it because, as I said, it doesn't only depend on us."
New signing Bruno Guimarães made his first appearance off the bench after just three training sessions, and Arteta was encouraged by what he saw.
"He only had three training sessions, but he looked good. He was really pushing to play some minutes today," Arteta said. "You sense immediately, I believe, a strong connection at play that is going to make us better."
Arsenal now turn their attention to Sunday's Community Shield, with Arteta pleased overall with a pre-season disrupted by World Cup call-ups.
"We've been able to tick a lot of boxes. Obviously, the circumstances of the World Cup and the amount of players that we had abroad have brought some constraints, but there are a lot of learnings to take and we're going to be ready for Sunday."