Arsenal have reached an agreement with Max Dowman to sign scholarship terms, with a professional contract expected to follow when he turns 17.
Dowman has emerged as one of the game’s top prospects and made his Premier League debut against Leeds United in August, aged only 15 years and 235 days.
The playmaker could move from schoolboy forms to a scholarship since January 1 and that is now in the process of being finalised.
More lucrative deals might have been available elsewhere but Dowman — who comes from a family of lifelong Arsenal supporters and whose father handled negotiations — was determined to continue his career at the Emirates Stadium.
It will secure Dowman for two years but once he reaches 16, on December 31, a professional deal can be offered and pre-agreed to take effect on his 17th birthday.
Dowman has attracted interest from many of the world’s leading teams, so retaining such a coveted prospect is sure to come as a huge boost to Arsenal.
Dowman became the second-youngest player to represent Arsenal, behind Ethan Nwaneri, when he made his Premier League debut from the bench against Leeds. He featured for the senior side during the club’s pre-season tour in Singapore and has made three first-team appearances this season.
What does this mean for Arsenal?
Analysis by Art de Roche
Even with Dowman coming from a family of Arsenal supporters, this will be major news for Arsenal’s first team and academy.
After securing the long-term futures of Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ethan Nwaneri in the summer, this sends a further message about the calibre of player their academy can produce and keep.
As well as making his Premier League debut in August, the 15-year-old impressed throughout pre-season and has made two further competitive appearances away to Liverpool and Port Vale.
Before that Port Vale fixture, in which Dowman came off the bench, asked about tailoring his development, manager Mikel Arteta said: “Preparing a very good understanding of his new situation and all the things that are different in his life.
“We need to change his times, his education, his allocation, where he is with his family. His diet is different, his sleep pattern is different, the training load is different. The amount of information, pressure and exposure is different, so we have to manage a lot of factors.
“When you add a lot of minutes with different teams, we need to be cautious and very careful. That’s what we are trying to do to find that balance to keep Max as connected as possible to the first team, but we need the right mixture of minutes like the other day with the Under-21s.”
That use in different age groups has continued since his Premier League debut in August. He has started twice for the Under-21s, scoring in both games as well as scoring two for the Under-19s in the UEFA Youth League earlier this week against Atletico Madrid.
On the international stage, he has also been promoted to England’s Under-19 squad, scoring against Wales earlier this month.
Arteta and the club will no doubt ensure that the care that has been shown so far in his young career will continue as he continues to mature.
