Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta surprised everyone by calling up a 14-year-old youngster to senior training yesterday.
The Gunners hope to extend their lead at the top of the Premier League when they take on Bournemouth at lunchtime today.
Arteta, for the first time in years, has everybody fit and available, including Jurrien Timber, and that is excellent news for the club in the most important stage of the season.
However, even though he had his whole squad at his disposal, the Gunners boss turned to a hugely talented young player to step up and train with the first-team yesterday.
He is one of the finest talents Arsenal have ever had, and he seems to have caught Arteta’s eye.
14-year-old Max Dowman spotted in Arsenal first-team training
Clubs call up academy players to train with the first team all the time, and Arsenal are no different.
Mikel Arteta has never been shy to give opportunities to young players.
The likes of Ethan Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelly have often trained with the senior side, and the former has already made his Premier League debut as well.
There are a number of others young players who have got the opportunity, but what happened yesterday surprised a few people.
Max Dowman, who is still just 14 years of age, was called up to train with the first team after his brilliant performances for the academy sides.
The teenager is already playing in teams well above his age group, and to see him train with the first team now is just remarkable.
Downman, who has been branded as an ‘unreal’ player by Adrian Clarke on the Handbrake Off Podcast, has a massive future ahead of him, and it will be interesting to see if he will get a chance in pre-season.
What Jack Wilshere has said about young Max Dowman
Imagine being a 14-year-old who’s still in school and you can go tell your mates that you trained with superstars like Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard and Declan Rice.
That’s exactly what Max Dowman will be able to do after he was called up to senior training under Mikel Arteta yesterday.
Arsenal have a number of hugely exciting young players coming through their ranks, but Dowman is probably the most interesting of them all because of his age.
To do what he’s doing at the age of 14 is just unbelievable, and Jack Wilshere has already spoken about fast-tracking him up the age groups.
The Arsenal U18s boss said last month, as per The Mirror: “There’s always a concern when fielding such a young player in these matches, but if you’re good enough you’re old enough.
“We need to find a balance of letting him play and enjoy the game because of his age but also trying to get as much work into him as we can.
“Hopefully, we can fast-track him and when he goes over to the first team he’ll be more ready.”