Arteta ready to give Max Dowman bigger Arsenal role after Saka injury

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta says Max Dowman is ready to take another step in his development as the teenager prepares for a more prominent role following Bukayo Saka’s injury.

Saka is expected to miss up to eight weeks with a quad injury, creating an opportunity for 16-year-old Dowman to feature more regularly in the first team.

Dowman is expected to start Arsenal’s Carabao Cup match against Fleetwood, giving him another chance to show what he can produce at senior level.

The midfielder has played only nine minutes in the Premier League this season. However, he scored twice in his only senior start, helping Arsenal beat Ipswich in the Carabao Cup.

He also scored against Everton last season, when his solo effort made him the youngest goalscorer in Premier League history.

Dowman’s recent international appearances have brought mixed experiences. He scored for England Under-19s before being sent off against the United States.

Arteta believes the teenager has the ability to move to a higher level, but says he must first build up the minutes, consistency and experience required to make that progress.

“He needs more minutes to do that. It’s a lot to ask him to provide when he does not have a lot of minutes. It’s very difficult, probably unfair,” said Arteta.

“But the moment that he starts to have more minutes and games I think he’s going to be able to do that because historically that’s what he’s done.

“The next step is obviously to another dimension and he’s more than capable of doing that.”

Arteta also stressed that Dowman’s development would not necessarily follow a straightforward path, despite the confidence Arsenal have in his ability.

“He needs to understand where he is at and where we are going to take him,” he added.

“And that is clear. It will not be a straight line up. Hopefully yes, but normally it is not like this.

“He needs to prepare for that but to have the spikes up and when the spikes are down, you better be ready because you never know the moment you are needed and there is no time to say, ‘no but I lack this’.”

Arteta said the need to be prepared applied to every player, but believes Dowman is currently in a strong position.

“That goes for every player but he is in a good place, he is training really well. When he had to play with us or the Under-21s he was the same and the same with the national team.

“We know the player we have and we need to give him the right chances and the right moments.”