Arsenal star Declan Rice is among the people praising emerging star Max Dowman after his impact during pre-season so far.
The attacking midfielder is highly-rated at the Emirates Stadium, and despite being just 15-years-old he has been fast tracked into both first team training and the senior squad since the new year.
The teenager is part of the Arsenal senior squad for pre-season. He was brought on in the second half in the pre-season fixture against AC Milan in Singapore and impressed with his performance.
The youngster was again given a chance on Sunday when Arsenal took on fellow Premier League side Newcastle United. He was brought on with around 20 minutes remaining and caught the eye with his composure.
A goal from Mikel Merino, an Alex Murphy own goal and a penalty from Martin Odegaard gave the Gunners a 3-2 win over Newcastle. After the match, Dowman took to Instagram to give his response.
He shared pictures of him entering the pitch, in action and having a conversation with Mikel Arteta, and added a caption reading: “What a night!”
Some of his Arsenal teammates were among those continuing to heap praise on the youngster. Rice summed up the situation perfectly by writing in the comments: “15 you know,” along with a laughing emoji.
Full-back Jurrien Timber wrote: “Some playa”, while Ethan Nwaneri responded with a red heart emoji. Riccards Calafiori, Jakub Kiwior, David Raya, Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Mahalhaes, Martin Odegaard and Myles Lewis-Skelly all also ‘liked’ the post.
Last week, Dowman was praised by former defender and pundit Rio Ferdinand , who also mentioned the relationship between him and Rice.
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“I spoke about him in November by the way, Max Dowman, don’t forget that name, lads. Hale End at Arsenal have produced another young gem. They’ve got Ethan Nwaneri already and Bukayo Saka who’s an elder statesman now in the changing room,” he said.
“And 15-year-old Dowman knocking about now. If you haven’t seen the clips I advise you to go online. Look, it’s early days… But it looks like Declan Rice has taken him under his wing, they took a selfie together.
“He’s definitely the best 15-year-old in the country, probably in Europe right now. Maybe the world.”
