'Kick him!' - Mikel Arteta jokes Arsenal players reacted angrily to being nutmegged by Max Dowman as Gunners boss makes 'exploit his talent' claim

During September’s international window, England youth star Dowman was fouled at least nine times in a clash against Spain, forcing the opposing left-back into a red card. But for Dowman, physicality and rough play are nothing new. Arteta made it clear that while the challenges can be tough, the 15-year-old thrives under pressure.

Speaking about the tricky Dowman's nutmegs in training, Arteta said: "At the beginning, they responded immediately - kick him! That was the first one. And Max, to be fair, he was excellent, stood up and got into the next one. You can really take it personally, for someone who was 14 last year, at some point when he was doing certain things to players, and now everybody loves him."

What started as annoyance from Arsenal’s stars has transformed into admiration. Dowman, once the boy who got mercilessly roasted in drills, is now one of the squad’s most liked players.

"You just want to hug him, help him. He's such a nice boy as well and he's very much liked by everybody here and just looking after us," Arteta added. "It brings responsibility to look after somebody with that talent and make sure we just do what we have to do to make sure we're given the best chance to exploit his talent, that's all."

Dowman’s star is rising fast, and Arsenal fans will soon see more of him. The Gunners are set to face Port Vale in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday evening before travelling to St. James’ Park to take on Newcastle in their next Premier League outing.