Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has heaped praise onto Max Dowman after his performance against Ipswich Town in the Carabao Cup last night.
The Gunners won 4-2 thanks to a brace from Dowman, who really caught the eye with yet another display that shows what an exceptional young talent he is.
Speaking to Sky Sports after the game, Arteta made it clear just how impressed he was with the 16-year-old, whilst also explaining that the club had a development plan for him.
See below for details as Arteta insisted Arsenal would be careful with Dowman, whilst also making it clear that the club wouldn’t stop him either, and that he’ll get first-team opportunities…
Mikel Arteta on Max Dowman
"He was brilliant, he made the difference – we need to look after him" ?
Mikel Arteta says Arsenal need to "be really cautious" with 16-year-old Max Dowman after he scored twice in Arsenal's 4-2 win over Ipswich ? pic.twitter.com/1msJAEkK8z
— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) September 15, 2026
“He was brilliant, I thought some of the individual actions he made to make a difference and to impact the game were outstanding,” Arteta said.
“We know the talent, we need to look after him.
“The talent is there, the environment around him is really good as well. Step by step.
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“Yes (we’re handling him carefully) because he’s 16 years old. We need to be really cautious with that.
“We don’t want to stop him, we don’t want to put any brakes into him, we need to develop him, and we are fully aware of what he needs. He will have opportunities to play.”
Can Max Dowman compete with big-name Arsenal attackers?
Dowman mainly plays on the right-hand side in a similar style to fellow left-footers Bukayo Saka and Noni Madueke.
Last night, the England youth international seemed to adopt a more central role, however, allowing him and Madueke to both start for Arteta’s side.
Still, there are a lot of talented attacking options for Dowman to compete with, so it will be interesting to see when he can realistically get a run of games together.
Of course, there’s surely no hurry for one still so young, but if Dowman continues to impress like this when he does get on the pitch, he’ll surely feel he deserves regular minutes in the way that a similarly huge talent Lamine Yamal got at the same stage of his career.
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