Mikel Arteta has welcomed Lionel Messi\u2019s apparent backing of Max Dowman, even if the source of the prediction remains open to doubt. A recent adidas campaign placed the Arsenal teenager among 10 players expected to shape football\u2019s next era, with Messi framed as the figure making the selections.<\/p>\n
The commercial has understandably prompted some scepticism, not least because every player featured is signed to adidas. Even so, Dowman\u2019s progress at Arsenal has already been striking. By 16, he has advanced at a pace that points toward the possibility of top-level football in time.<\/p>\n
Arteta was asked this week about Messi\u2019s supposed view of the youngster, and he responded in full support of the idea. \u201cIf Messi, who is the best ever player, says that \u2026 his eyes are I think better than anybody else\u2019s. Hopefully he\u2019s right,\u201d the Arsenal boss said.<\/p>\n
For Arteta, the wider point matters more than the campaign itself. Dowman has already broken through in unusual fashion, playing Under-18s football for Arsenal at 13 and then turning out for the Under-21s at 14. He is the Premier League\u2019s youngest ever goalscorer and its second youngest player. He is also the youngest Premier League champion and the youngest ever Champions League player.<\/p>\n
This season, Dowman has scored twice in a Carabao Cup win for Arsenal and has made one Premier League appearance, while continuing to share time with the Under-21s. He will not turn 17, and therefore cannot legally drive in the U.K., until Dec. 31.<\/p>\n
Arteta believes the teenager\u2019s ceiling remains enormous. \u201cIn the few appearances he\u2019s had, he\u2019s already done remarkable things. That\u2019s somebody that is touched with a special gift,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a joy to watch. The way he moves, the way he touches the ball, the way he carries himself, it\u2019s just different. And that\u2019s what makes him unique.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jack Wilshere, who managed Dowman in Arsenal\u2019s Under-18s and once coached him as a 13-year-old, has also described the scale of his talent. \u201cDon\u2019t get into a duel, take one or two touches, move it around,\u201d Wilshere recalled telling him. \u201cHe picked up the ball, dribbled round five players, squared it and we [scored]. I have never seen anything like it.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe went on with us and developed a bit more, and physically his numbers were a joke \u2026 the metrics they use now\u2014high-speed running, sprints, total distance\u2014were Premier League level and he was 14. He can be what he wants. He\u2019s got a good family around him as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wilshere added that the next stage is consistency. \u201cget into the team and stay in the team,\u201d he said. \u201cHe\u2019ll probably have to play on the sides if he wants a run in the team.\u201d Arteta, meanwhile, believes Dowman can adapt when the time comes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Arteta backs Dowman\u2019s rise after Messi-linked praise, with Arsenal managing the teenager carefully.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21749,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[192,1303],"tags":[1066,1047,180],"class_list":["post-21750","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arsenal","category-arsenal-news","tag-carabao-cup","tag-champions-league","tag-player-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21750","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21750"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21750\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21749"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21750"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21750"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21750"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}