Max Dowman: Arsenal's Teenage Sensation on Loan Decision

Arsenal are prepared to let teenage sensation Max Dowman leave on loan this season – but only if it accelerates his rise, not stalls it.

The 16-year-old, who rewrote the record books last term as the youngest scorer in Premier League history and the youngest ever goalscorer for Arsenal, reminded everyone of his talent on Tuesday night. His first outing of the campaign brought two goals in a 4-2 Carabao Cup win at Ipswich, a sharp jolt of proof that the hype around him is not misplaced.

Yet he still hasn’t kicked a ball in the league this season. That is the balancing act now facing Mikel Arteta.

Arteta’s tightrope: protect or push?

Arteta made it clear he wants Dowman close, training and learning with the first team, but he refused to rule out a loan if circumstances demand it.

“We will evaluate every six months where we are and what is the best thing for him to do and then make the right decision,” Arteta said. “It depends on a lot of factors. What he needs, and what the team needs as well, the availability we have in the squad, the minutes that he is playing and the qualities of those minutes.

“We have to be open, but now the focus is to be here and to impact the team.”

Dowman only finished his GCSEs in the summer. He cannot move on loan until he turns 17 on 31 December, but the timing is striking: the winter transfer window opens the very next day. League One side Luton, managed by former Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere, are understood to be among the clubs keen to take him.

Arteta insisted Arsenal have not yet engaged with any proposals.

“We haven't really listened to any of the possibilities because we were crystal clear that we wanted to have Max in the squad, that we wanted him to be part of the pre-season and then start to see where we are from there,” he said.

Last season, Dowman featured 13 times as Arsenal finally ended their 22-year wait for a Premier League title. That experience has already pushed him well beyond the usual path for a player his age, and Arteta is wary of mismanaging the next step.

“There have been many cases of that age when they have gone out and been successful and others not,” he said. “In my particular case, I was 17 when I went to Paris [St-Germain]. It depends on the atmosphere that you find there, and how much the coach believes in you as to whether you go there just to be part of a squad or play minutes.

“Which country, it depends. But now he is in a good place, let's keep him here.”

A perfect start – and a door to push on

Arsenal’s season could hardly have started better. From beating Manchester City in the Community Shield, they have rattled off seven wins from seven in domestic and European competition. It is a winning machine that is hard to break into, especially for a 16-year-old.

Dowman’s brace at Ipswich, though, was exactly the kind of performance that forces a manager to pause before writing his next team sheet. Arsenal travel to Brighton in the Premier League on Saturday, and the teenager has done everything he can to shove his name into the conversation.

“The best way to knock on the door is to do it on the pitch, not in the office,” Arteta said when asked about Dowman’s chances of featuring against the Seagulls. “Then you just leave out the arguments. When a player delivers constantly on the pitch, every single day in training, that's the best way, that's the best signal for the manager. That's the best signal for his team-mates, too.

“And what Max did the other day, alongside all the other players as well that haven't played many minutes this season, was really impressive.”

For now, Arsenal will keep their prodigy close, watching, weighing, and waiting. The real decision comes in January, when a 17-year-old with a Premier League record and a growing reputation may have to choose between the comfort of London Colney and the hard lessons of a loan spell.