Dowman loan: Arsenal's stance as Premier League club circles

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Max Dowman cannot legally be sent out on loan by Arsenal — but that changes on 31 December, the day he turns 17 and the day before the transfer window opens.

The timing has not gone unnoticed. According to the Evening Standard, a large number of clubs are interested in taking the teenager on loan in January, with West Ham among them.

The same report states that Arsenal currently have no plans to let him leave. The club have overseen Dowman's development for years, he comes from a family of Arsenal supporters, and all parties are said to be content with his trajectory. The view inside the building is that there is nowhere better for him right now than where he already is.

An eventful international break

Dowman has just come through a hectic fortnight with England Under-19s. He scored the only goal of the game against the Republic of Ireland, then came off the bench in the win over Norway, before being shown a straight red card against the USA on Friday for a reckless second-half challenge.

That followed a month in which he scored twice in Arsenal's Carabao Cup win over Ipswich. The 16-year-old has already made seven Premier League appearances and his Champions League debut, having first been introduced as a 15-year-old at Anfield last season.

He trains regularly with the first team alongside Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard, and has built a close relationship with Declan Rice.

What Arteta has said

Mikel Arteta has not closed the door on a loan at some point, making clear the situation will be reviewed at every window.

"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 last month. "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.

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

Arteta himself joined Paris Saint-Germain on loan at 17 and has spoken about the off-pitch benefits such a move can bring. When Ethan Nwaneri joined Marseille in the second half of last season, Arteta said he wanted the teenager "thrown in with the sharks". That spell did not work out, and Nwaneri has since joined Borussia Dortmund.

The key difference, per the Standard, is that Nwaneri's exit came amid a growing feeling his route to the first team was blocked. There is no such sense around Dowman.

Squad situation could be decisive

Arsenal's winger stocks may also shape the call. Odegaard had an ankle scare during the break, while Christos Tzolis has undergone a scan on his hamstring. Should Tzolis face a spell out, Noni Madueke could be shifted to the left more often — opening further minutes for Dowman as deputy to Saka.

Arteta wants depth and as many options as possible, and Dowman is part of that calculation. The next assessment point arrives when the window opens on 1 January.