Arsenal open to Dowman loan as ex-Gunner eyes January move

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Arsenal are prepared to sanction a loan move for Max Dowman in the second half of the season if the club decides it is the best route for the 16-year-old's development.

Dowman, already the youngest player ever to start a game for Arsenal and the youngest scorer in Premier League history, marked his first appearance of the campaign with a brace in Tuesday's 4-2 Carabao Cup win at Ipswich.

The teenager is yet to feature in the Premier League this term, and Mikel Arteta has made clear the situation will be reviewed regularly rather than settled now.

"We will evaluate every six months where we are and what is the best thing for him to do and then make the right decision," Arteta said. "It depends on a lot of factors. What he needs, and what the team needs as well, the availability we have in the squad, the minutes that he is playing and the qualities of those minutes."

He added: "We have to be open, but now the focus is to be here and to impact the team."

Wilshere interest and the January timeline

Dowman, who completed his GCSEs in the summer, turns 17 on 31 December — one day before the winter transfer window opens, making him eligible for a temporary move at the earliest possible moment.

According to BBC Sport, League One side Luton, managed by former Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere, are believed to have expressed an interest in taking the youngster on loan.

Arteta indicated the club has not engaged with any approaches to this point. "We haven't really listened to any of the possibilities because we were crystal clear that we wanted to have Max in the squad, that we wanted him to be part of the pre-season and then start to see where we are from there," he said.

The Arsenal boss also drew on his own experience when asked whether a loan at that age carries risk. "There have been many cases of that age when they have gone out and been successful and others not," Arteta said. "In my particular case, I was 17 when I went to Paris [St-Germain]. It depends on the atmosphere that you find there, and how much the coach believes in you as to whether you go there just to be part of a squad or play minutes. Which country, it depends. But now he is in a good place, let's keep him here."

Knocking on the door

Dowman made 13 appearances last season as Arsenal ended their 22-year wait for a Premier League title. This season, the Gunners have won all seven of their domestic and European fixtures, a run that began with victory over Manchester City in the Community Shield.

Asked whether the Ipswich performance had pushed Dowman into contention for Saturday's trip to Brighton, Arteta pointed to the pitch rather than negotiations.

"The best way to knock on the door is to do it on the pitch, not in the office," he said. "When a player delivers constantly on the pitch, every single day in training, that's the best way, that's the best signal for the manager. That's the best signal for his team-mates, too. And what Max did the other day, alongside all the other players as well that haven't played many minutes this season, was really impressive."

The next checkpoint arrives at Brighton, with the bigger decision on Dowman's immediate future due once the winter window opens on 1 January.