Neil Warnock has told Mikel Arteta that he needs to ensure that Arsenal starlet Max Dowman gets “good guidance.”

The 15-year-old has produced some impressive cameo performances during the club’s pre-season tour of Asia, and while Warnock thinks age should be no barrier to first-team football, he does think Dowman must be handled carefully:

“If you’re good enough, you’re old enough, but you’ve got to be careful with kids as well, though. With 15-year-olds and the Arsenal lad, it goes to their heads. No matter what you say, it goes to their heads.”

“They read the papers, they get big cars if they’re not careful. They need good guidance at that age, and I’m not sure they get it all together for them at the minute.”

Dowman’s contract situation

Due to the teenager’s age, he is not even on a scholarship with Arsenal yet. He can only sign one when he turns 16 at the end of this year.

Of course, the Gunners will be determined to ensure that his future is secured as soon as he is eligible.

While Warnock is right to point towards concerns about money, Dowman is unlikely to receive a sizeable weekly wage until much later when he signs his first professional contract.

Will the midfielder be handed his first start for Arsenal?

Considering Dowman’s eye-catching substitute appearances against the likes of AC Milan and Newcastle, there is already a clamour for him to be named in the starting eleven for a friendly.

Mikel Arteta’s side face North London rivals Tottenham in Hong Kong on Thursday. It would be a big call to make to select him in the lineup for that game but you can’t rule it out.

In other news, a Sky journalist claims Arsenal are still “keeping an eye” on a young Argentinian defender