Arsenal youngster ‘involved and training with the team a lot’ says Arteta | OneFootball

Mikel Arteta says it is a possibility that 15-year-old Max Dowman could be involved with the first team in the near future having been training with the senior players this season.

The attacking midfielder is highly rated at the club and is well known among fans as one to watch for the future.

And with young duo Ethan Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelly breaking into the first team this season, Arteta says the opportunity is certainly there for Dowman to do the same.

On whether it is more common for teenagers to break into the first team at clubs now, Arteta responded: “I think to give a generic answer is very difficult. I think there are cases.

“It’s very, very rare. Talking about Max now, he’s involved in the squad, he’s been training with us a lot. It doesn’t mean he’s going to play in the Premier League many games. I don’t know, depending on how good he is, how impressive he is, how much he offers the team like Ethan, like Myles, like any other player in the squad.

“I think he’s in the right pathway. I think everybody in the academy has done an incredible job to constantly protect him, inspire him, challenge him, always keep him up and at the levels he can produce and he’s doing really well.

“I think he’s taking the right steps and taking it slowly. He will dictate how fast we go.

“You need to understand his age, the way you talk and communicate with him. If you’re looking at him from afar and you don’t know he’s 15 and you see certain things that he does and you have to judge him on that, you wouldn’t treat him differently to any other player.”

The Gunners take on Bournemouth at the Emirates on Saturday with Arteta set to make several changes to his side ahead of the crucial Champions League semi-final second leg against PSG.