Mikel Arteta has dropped his strongest hint yet that Max Dowman is set to be part of Arsenal’s first team plans next season.
The 15-year-old has shot to prominence this season on the back of his exploits for Arsenal’s Under-18s.
Dowman has trained regularly alongside his senior colleagues at various points over the last eight months and was included as part of the squad that enjoyed a warm weather training camp in Dubai back in January.
Premier League rules mean the attacking midfielder isn’t able to make his senior debut this season but if could be a different story next term.
Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ethan Nwaneri have shown there is a pathway under Arteta and the Arsenal boss believes Dowman looks increasingly likely to be part of his plans going forward.
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.
Speaking about Arsenal’s perceived lack of creativity speaking ahead of Saturday’s game against Bournemouth, he said: ‘We have a lot of options there, Mikel can play in that position, Declan, we have Ethan there in his main position.
‘We have players that can play in that position, we have Max [Dowman] coming up as well very soon as well so I think we are good in the position.’
On the teenager specifically, he added: ‘For the near future, yeah, let’s see how this evolves but we certainly have a big talent there.’
Dowman’s rapid progress could help ease the burden on ailing skipper Martin Odegaard who has struggled to regain his best form following the ankle injury he picked up earlier this season.
Odegaard again struggled to exert any influence in Tuesday’s disappointing Champions League semi-final first leg defeat against Paris Saint-Germain but Arteta remains confident his skipper can get back to where he was prior to his surgery.
He said: ‘There were many factors I think, obviously the injury, the long-term injury doesn’t help to give you the consistency and the platform to continue in the season but it’s very difficult.
‘The level of consistency shown is unbelievable for an attacking player to be constantly there, very rare because there are always ups and downs.
‘Especially the players that are very creative and they rely on a spark and creating moments in-game but there are other aspects of his games that remain intact and he continues to do every week.’