Mikel Arteta has admitted he’d have to be blind not to give Max Dowman chances, adding that he wants the midfielder to stay at Arsenal for many years.
Max Dowman appears set for a first-team call-up with Arsenal against Brighton and Hove Albion on Wednesday, after he was held back from the Arsenal u21 match against Exeter City on Tuesday.
Dowman joined the senior squad for training earlier that day, having also travelled with the squad to the Emirates for Sunday’s match against Crystal Palace.
Whether Dowman will actually make it onto the pitch against Brighton is another matter, but Mikel Arteta has suggested it’s difficult for him to avoid giving the 15-year-old chances.
“If we look at his passport every day, we never play him, as simple as that,” Arteta joked. “But when you look at what he does in training, you have to play him. If not you are blind, or I’m blind.
“So it’s finding that balance again, and understanding especially the load, the things that are changing in his life and make sure [when] we throw [him] in there he’s in the right context with the right players and he can cope with that.
“So far I think he’s done it, and he’s done it really well.”
Reports this week suggested Dowman has signed a new contract with the Gunners, putting pen to paper on a scholarship deal. The suggestion was that he’s also verbally agreed to sign a professional contract when he’s old enough.
Arteta was asked about Dowman’s new contract on Tuesday, saying: “That’s what we all want, I think that’s what he wants as well. That’s more for Andrea and the club to reach that (agreement).
“But the feeling that I have genuinely is that he loves it, he is a huge Arsenal supporter, and his family, I think they are really, really happy with the way things are developing around him as well. So hopefully for many years he will be with us.”