After a summer where he has made an enormous impression on Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta, 15-year-old prodigy Max Dowman has signed a vital deal with the north Londoners
Max Dowman has signed scholarship terms with Arsenal despite claims he could have had other “lucrative deals” from other clubs on the table.
Dowman, 15, announced himself onto the scene with the Gunners’ first team with some jaw-dropping and mature displays in the pre-season. He even managed to contribute an assist in his first Premier League appearance when the north Londoners overcame Leeds United 5-0.
Arsenal have wasted little time in getting him to sign a scholarship deal, which also includes a pro deal to be signed when he turns 17. It’s also understood by football.london that Mikel Arteta was vital when it came to convincing the Chelmsford-born midfielder to commit his future to the Premier League leaders.
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The Arsenal boss considers him a player who will be a vital part of their squad for many years to come. According to The Athletic, he could have potentially earned more money elsewhere.
Nevertheless, he chose to remain where he is, not long after scoring a brace of penalties in the U19s side’s recent 4-3 defeat to Atletico Madrid in the UEFA Youth League. Dowman’s maturity shown through in the chaotic contest against the La Liga heavyweights’ youth side.
Arsenal are also consciously managing the teen’s minutes in the first team. He has not featured in a Premier League match since making a one-minute appearance off the bench in the 1-0 away defeat to Liverpool.
The vision is for Dowman to eventually occupy a place in the middle of the park for Arsenal. When he has been brought on from the bench by Arteta, it has been as a right midfielder, where he can cut onto his favoured left foot.
Arteta is excited by the undoubtedly talented Dowman, but is also ensuring he is not throwing him into the deep end too soon. The Spaniard, when asked about the challenges of managing a prospect like him, said: “Well, learning from him, probably. First of all, preparing and having a very good understanding of his new situation and all the things that are different in his life.
“So we need to change his times, we need to change his education, probably his allocation and where he is with his family. His diet is different, his sleep patterns become different, the training load is different, the amount of information, pressure, exposure is different.
“So we have to manage a lot of factors. Into that lot of factors you add a lot of minutes with very different teams as well. We need to be cautious and very, very careful.
“And that’s what we are trying to do in the best possible way, to find that balance, to keep Max as connected as possible with the first team. He’s undoubtedly a player that can help the first team.
“But that’s why we need the right mixture of minutes, like he did the other day with the [Under-21s] and with England, to have that exposure when he needs to play with us, he’s ready to do that.”
For the Arsenal youth teams, he has four goals in four appearances, underlining his importance to the development sides. How long he remains in the youth divisions is a different question.
