Watching Max Dowman live: Arsenal’s ‘unbelievable’ 15-year-old who seems destined for first team

“No 7! No 7! Can we have your shirt please?”

Those high-pitched screams felt like the soundtrack to an evening in a playground on the outskirts of London on Saturday when a group of young children constantly called out arsenalRight winger to hand over his shirt.

The venue was Meadow Park, home of non-league Boreham Wood, and the player in question was Max Dowman.

Playing three years over his age, Doman made his debut in the FA Youth Cup against Queens Park Rangers -Debut scoring goals, too. In September, he made his debut in the UEFA Youth League against Atalanta At the age of 14 years, eight months and 19 days, he became the youngest player ever to score in the competition. In between, Doman made his under-21 debut as a boy against the men.

Maybe there was English Premier League Also debuting this season But for rules and regulations in the way. You must be at least under 16 (15 by 31 August 2024 for the current season) to appear in the English top flight, which is not the case everywhere else. In theory, Doman could play No La Liga now.

“At the moment, with all the legislation, there are restrictions on your age – something you don’t mention in other countries,” Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said this week. . “We’ll have to wait and see. But he’s taking steps very quickly because every time you put him on a different level, he gets over that hurdle very quickly.”

Get ready to feel old. Doman was born in 2009 – only. He celebrated his 15th birthday on New Year’s Eve, which means – and this part of his story is easy to overlook when you’re focused on the football journey – that he is currently in Year 10 at school and won’t sit his GCSE exams until the following summer. It would be another two years before Dowman could drive a car in England and three years before he could buy beer.

In other words, he’s a talented young footballer who plays with an entitlement beyond his years, but ultimately is still a teenage kid – and that adds an extra layer of responsibility to how we write about him.

Those bursts of speed with the ball glued to his boot, the beautiful knack of dropping his shoulder and sliding in from the right flank for a shot (or score, in Saturday’s case), the eye-of-the-needle pass he saw but didn’t, and the way he naturally receives it with the outside of his left foot before it hits. Goes out on opponents… It would be easy to make comparisons with players X, Y and Z. But it would also be silly to do that.

Dowman plays for England U17 against Belgium U17 in November (Neil Baines – FA/FA via Getty Images)

What we can say without saying too much is that Doman has huge potential and seeing him running with the ball on Saturday, leaving a trail of QPR players in his wake at times, will take your breath away – even if you’re supporting Arsenal’s opponents.

“Oh, Jesus,” said the voice in the line in front of Doman in another of his trademark second-half rants.

Remarkably, Doman trained alongside him as a 14-year-old at Arsenal. Gabriel Jesusthat it. Indeed, in an era where his peers kick a ball up the field before double-mathematics, Dowman has been struggling with Arsenal’s first team with his ability.

“Some of the things he does in training are unbelievable,” Arteta said on Tuesday. Champions League Game against Dinamo Zagreb. “He is a player with huge talent.”

Reporting twice a week to London Colney (home of Arsenal’s under-18s, under-21s and first team) as part of a bespoke development program that includes one-on-one sessions, Dowman has been around Arteta’s squad for a while now.

Dowman turns away from Jorginho in Arsenal training (Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)

At some point in the near future – and certainly it is just a question of when – the accelerated path that Domane is headed towards making a senior debut at Arsenal will see him join forces permanently. Ethan Nwanre and Miles Lewis-Skellywho are still young enough to play in the FA Youth Cup this season, but have turned the under-18 nest to become regular members of the first-team squad.

This is not hyperbole as far as Dowman is concerned. It’s just a logical progression for someone who was offered at Arsenal’s Under-18s when he was 13 and became the club’s youngest Under-21 player at 14. At the age of four, Doman was playing ahead of his years. Even at international level, Domane plays two years above his age England Under 17 years old.

Rice and Doman in Arsenal training on January 21 (Stuart Macfarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)

Without seeing Doman play, the natural assumption is that he is a strong early developer, as is often the case with teenagers who are fast-tracked through the academy’s age groups. Dowman is somewhat of that — he’s a great athlete, sure — but he doesn’t just thrive because of his physicality. His acceleration is a big asset but his exceptional technical ability, and the intelligence with which he plays and sees the game, really stands out.

“Please go online and check this baby out,” Rio Ferdinand said on his YouTube channel in November. “He was 14, and I saw him coaching 18- and 19-year-olds on the pitch when he was playing with them. A bad player (which in this context actually means a good player).”

Dowman’s online viewings are jaw-dropping at times, especially given the age disparity, and it gives you insight into what all the hype is about. He is able to play in multiple positions (many in the game believe Dowman will end up more centrally, as a No. 8 or No. 10), has a great passing range, cuts beautifully and scores freely.

Dowman in action in the Youth Champions League against Sporting CP (David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)

At the same time, there’s nothing like seeing a player perform live. You can capture the bigger picture that video doesn’t, including how a player interacts with his teammates and coach, the stances they take on the field when they don’t have the ball at their feet, and how they handle moments of adversity.

Early in the second half on Saturday, after Doman scrambled wide of an opponent on the touchline, he ran into another QPR player for a strong challenge from the side. It was a fair tackle – he took the ball – but he was also full blood and cleaned up Dowman in the process.

He was another one of QPR’s players at the moment – something that will happen. It’s football. Teenage testosterone and all that. Additionally, Dowman’s reputation as a rising star precedes him at the academy level in particular, and this would stir up all sorts of emotions in others.

Shirt and shorts covered in mud, Doman got up, brushed himself off (literally) and had no problem with the challenge. He seemed less impressed by the reaction elsewhere, but he handled it deftly, calmly waving his finger from a distance for a few moments and saying nothing. Others – and that includes players twice his age – may have been shaken off and lost their focus.

This was not the case with Doman, whose shoes were talked about. He never stopped showing up for the ball over the course of 136 minutes of football (it was a long night with extra time), and it’s no surprise that his Arsenal team-mates kept giving it to him.

With just over 20 minutes of normal time remaining and Zersan trailing 2-1, Doman pounced on a defensive error, came out firing, moved inside to open the angle on his left foot and drill the equaliser. The result felt inevitable from the moment he picked up the ball.

Important equivalent of Dowman 🪄#AFCU18 | #fayouthcup pic.twitter.com/tletstnchu

– Arsenal Academy (arsenalacademy) January 18, 2025

He also made a clever pass for the release Dan Casey Into the inside right channel crossed for Arsenal’s third goal of the night when 18-year-old Emerson Sutton scored an impressive cross for QPR.

Probably the overriding impression after watching Dowman is how completely comfortable he is with the ball at his feet. He never looked remotely out of possession, even when taking the ball under pressure deep inside his own half, and those levels of confidence and self-belief showed in other ways too.

When Arsenal’s players gathered in a huddle at the end of extra time and their coach Adam Birchall asked who wanted to take a penalty, Doman’s hand went up in the air. Arsenal missed the first place kick but Doman scored his second, after some heroics from their goalkeeper Jack porterthey were victorious to set up a fifth-round tie against Fulham.

Dowman celebrates with goalkeeper Porter after Arsenal passed a translation (Alex Burstow/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)

After celebrating with his teammates at the final whistle, Doman climbed onto the seats in the podium to embrace his family and friends. He was still wearing the full kit, including the No. 7 jersey that most people on the field — not just the kids who wanted to take home a souvenir — had their eyes on all night.

(Alex Burstow/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)