Max Dowman is destined to live up to his potential – he’s only going to get better and will be given more chances to shine.
That’s the view of Arsenal cult hero Perry Groves, who rubbished any speculation that the 16-year-old could grow impatient over game time in the coming months.
Dowman enjoyed a record-breaking breakthrough 2025/26 season in which he become the youngest player to win the Premier League.
The versatile teenager, who can operate as both a right winger or attacking midfielder, also holds the record as the youngest goalscorer in competition.
That is in addition to being the youngest player to start a Premier League game, while also being the youngest to feature in the Champions League – doing so aged 15 and 308 days old.
In total, Dowman featured 13 times last campaign as Arsenal ended 22 years of top-flight woe, with the player since featuring heavily in pre-season.
With Bukayo Saka and Noni Madueke yet to be involved in pre-season action having been given an extended break following England’s run to the World Cup semi-finals, Dowman could start in next week’s Community Shield clash against Manchester City.
To the Max
Arsenal and England fans are hopeful he can be the future of the two teams in the years to come.
But speaking on the Sunday Session, legendary broadcaster Ian ‘The Moose’ Abrahams questioned whether Dowman will become frustrated in the upcoming season.
He argued that he may struggle to deal with Saka and Madueke ahead of him in the pecking order as he continues to force his way into Mikel Arteta’s thinking.
Abrahams likened his situation to that of fellow Hale End graduate Ethan Nwaneri’s, insisting the 19-year-old opted to join Marseille on loan January because of a lack of first-team chances.
Nwaneri was considered Arsenal’s jewel of their academy when he became the Premier League youngest’s player when he came on against Brentford in September 2022 at the age of 15 years and 181 days old.
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He then scored nine goals from 37 games during his breakthrough 2024/25 campaign, before falling down the pecking order last term.
But Groves insisted that Dowman is only going to be given more minutes by Arteta as he showcases his talent every time he graces the pitch.
He said: “It won’t be a problem, Max Dowman when you compare [them], he’s a different level to Nwaneri.
“I haven’t seen a player of that age with that amount of natural ability.
“And the other thing with Max Dowman, normally players with that low centre of gravity and brilliant ball carriers, they’re normally about 5ft 8in, 5ft 9in – he’s 6ft tall – and he’s got a bit of an edge.
“The game against Girona [4-1 pre-season win], where he scored a goal and made one, the goal that he scored, Alex Moreno, who used to play for Aston Villa, he was trying to rough him up.
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“And Max Dowman palmed him off, he put a palm in his chest and Moreno fell on the floor and pretended like he had been hit on the head.
“So I must admit, I don’t think that you’re gonna have a problem with Max Dowman.
“He will get more minutes, he’s always going to be on the bench, he’ll play in the Carabao Cup games, so I can’t see a problem with him this season at all.”
Dowman distractions?
Abrahams once again raised concern that some of the country’s greatest prospects have ultimately failed to live up to their early hype, as he pointed out off-field distractions could soon come into play.
He remarked: “I probably will be proved wrong in having any concerns about him, but I’ve done this job for 35 years.
“I’ve seen so many really good, unbelievable prospects, ‘This guy is the best that this clubs ever produced’ or ‘This country has ever produced.’
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“And for one reason or another, some of them may be footballing reasons, some of them may not be footballing reasons, it may not quite have happened for them.
“I hope this happens for him, I hope he becomes a Ballon d’Or winner in four or five years time, I hope he goes on to dominate for club and country.
“I think he has got pretty much everything, but he is only 16-and-a-half, he’s still got to do several things which he hasn’t even thought about yet.
“Growing, girls, cars, money… all those sorts of things don’t matter to him at the moment, because all that matters to him is football and maybe his education up until now.
“But all those life things will come into play later on, and how will he deal with those?
“And I’m hoping that he’ll be able to deal with it, so we can all say that this is the best player that England has ever produced.”
