Arsenal ‘Invincible’ Gilberto Silva is extremely excited by what he has seen of Max Dowman.

Speaking to GiveMeSport, the Brazilian said he has been left very impressed by the fearlessness that the teenager shows when in possession of the ball:

“Max Dowman, wow. I saw him in pre-season. You know what I really like, with these young players, that kind of personality. It doesn’t matter how young they are, they play with personality.”

Gilberto believes the freedom that Dowman plays with must be encouraged, and it is up to the coaching staff to protect him from any pressures away from the pitch:

“Don’t be scared or afraid of trying things, dribbling, giving a pass, trying something different with their ability. This is so important to build their confidence, but also it’s important to give them time. Don’t put so much pressure on them. Help them with the pressure, because if you play football it doesn’t matter where you are, you are under pressure.”

“It doesn’t matter if you’re young or a senior player, you are under pressure always to perform when you put the shirt on. But the job of the manager, the club, the senior players, is to give those younger talents the support they need to perform and don’t get distracted from what is around them.”

Dowman looks ready to play first-team football

Based on what we have seen of him so far, the 15-year-old clearly has the natural ability to play at senior level already.

However, with the amount of depth that Arsenal have in the middle of the park, there is no need to rush Dowman’s development, and manager Mikel Arteta will be careful to introduce him slowly to the first-team setup.

When could we see the teenager in action for Arsenal again?

Dowman’s last appearance for the senior side came against Port Vale in the Carabao Cup last month. Since then, he has been an unused substitute in a couple of matches as well as having played for the Under-21s in Premier League 2.

As we saw against Leeds and Liverpool, Arteta is not afraid to throw the youngster on in big games if he feels it is the right move, so he could make more cameos off the bench over the coming weeks.

Read more about the Arsenal First Team Squad for 2025/26 here