Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice claims the Gunners have the “best 15-year-old in the country” in Max Dowman.

Fans are excited by the youngster’s potential and while Rice says Dowman is an “unreal” talent, he needs to put in the hard yards if he wants to follow the likes of Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ethan Nwaneri into the first team:

“Max is the best 15-year-old in the country. I’ve had so many texts about Max recently, where people have just watched him, saying: ‘Wow, what a talent’.”

“So he’s one to watch out for, but at 15, there’s still such a long way to go. You can be the best 15-year-old in the country, but that doesn’t necessarily mean at 18 you’re going to be.”

“So you need to be hungry, keep working, keep pushing. I speak with Max a lot; he knows that and has such a good family around him. He’s unreal.”

Rice has taken up a mentoring role

The club’s record signing says he has taken the teenager under his wing “a bit” along with Lewis-Skelly and Nwaneri.

Rice had a similar path of progressing through West Ham’s academy before becoming a regular starter at a young age, and he is keen to share his experiences.

Arsenal supporters will have to wait patiently before Dowman makes his debut

While the teenager has been training with the first team on a regular basis in recent months, he is illegible to play senior football this season.

Premier League rules state that a player has to be registered at Under 16 level or above to play. As Dowman started the campaign with the Under 15s, it means that he can’t be registered for league fixtures. Fans will have to wait until later this year for him to get game time in Mikel Arteta’s side.

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