Arsenal open to Max Dowman loan move after teenager’s impressive start to season

Arsenal are “open” to allowing teen sensation Max Dowman to leave the club on loan, if the circumstances are right.

The 16-year-old is back in the spotlight this week after he marked his first appearance of the season with a brace in Arsenal’s 4-2 Carabao Cup win at Ipswich.

Mikel Arteta is keen to protect the youngster and wants him to continue to be involved in a squad which is probably the strongest in the Premier League.

However, the Spaniard accepted in his news conference on Friday that the Gunners will evaluate “every six months” the possibility of Dowman leaving on loan.

Luton manager and former Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere is said to have spoken to Arteta about the prospect of bringing Dowman to his League One side on a temporary deal.

Dowman will be eligible to complete a loan switch when he turns 17 on December 31, with the transfer window opening the following day.

And Arteta said: “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.

“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.

“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.”

Another of the club’s prospects, Ethan Nwaneri, joined Marseille on a loan deal last January. Arteta said that Nwaneri, 18 at the time, needed to “swim with the sharks”. After he returned from France Nwaneri was sent out on loan again, to Borussia Dortmund, for this season.

Asked if Dowman might be “too young” to go out on loan, Arteta continued: “There have been many cases of that age when they have gone out and been successful and others not.

“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.”

Dowman will be pushing for a first Premier League outing of the campaign at Brighton on Saturday as Arsenal bid to retain their 100 per cent record.

But when asked if the teenager has been “knocking on his door” to play, Arteta replied: “The best way to knock on the door is to do it on the pitch, not in the office.

“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.”