Mikel Arteta teases debut for 15-year-old Max Dowman as Arsenal boss insists midfielder is 'certainly a big talent'

Dowman has been training with Arsenal's first-team for months now, with the youngster drawing comparisons with team-mate Martin Odegaard. Arteta has talked up the teenager once again, but admits they are well stocked in the attacking midfielder department.

He told reporters: "We have a lot of options there [in attacking midfield], Mikel [Merino] can play in that position, Declan [Rice], we have Ethan [Nwaneri] there in his main position. We have players that can play in that position, we have Max [Dowman] coming up very soon as well, so I think we are good in the position."

On whether Dowman is part of his plans for next season, he replied: "For the near future, yeah, let's see how this evolves, but we certainly have a big talent there."

Arteta previously said that Dowman has "unbelievable" quality for one so young, but certain "restrictions" are holding back his development. According to The Guardian, Premier League regulations prevent players who were not 15 at the start of a season from playing, so it seems Dowman will have to wait for his Gunners debut next term.

While Dowman continues to play for Arsenal's youth sides, the first-team host Bournemouth in the Premier League on Saturday.