Arsenal’s “New Yamal”, looking to be Hale End’s next Superstar - And Potentially Its Best

Welcome to our first weekly Wonderkid Wednesday. The Hale End is among football’s best academies. Having produced some of Arsenal’s best ever talents, like Ashley Cole, Cesc Fabregas, Tony Adams, Martin Keown, Bukayo Saka, and even great players for other clubs like Harry Kane and Andy Cole, the academy is no stranger to brilliance. However, Arsenal now has a player coming through their ranks with more promise than all of them, with the promise of being Arsenal’s next star. That man goes by the name of Max Dowman.

Born one day before 2010, Dowman is still just 15 but has been starting to break onto the scene in Arsenal’s preseason tour. However, who is he? Is he the one for Arsenal? Let’s break it down.

Max Dowman was born in December 2009 in Chelmsford. Not much is known about him before 2023, Arsenal is the only club that we know he ever played for, although we don’t know when he joined. It must have been at a young age though, because going into the 23/24 season, at 13 years old, he joined the U18s.

Mind you, even playing in the U15s at that age would’ve been a big deal, but for Dowman, he was all the way at the U18 level. This is when I found out about him, and took a mental note, but my eyes, as was the world’s, were on Chido Obi, scoring 10 in a single match against Man Utd’s U18s in a 14-3 win. Obi took the world by storm in 2024, leading to being part of a double swoop by the Red Devils, poaching Obi as well as centerback Ayden Heaven from the Gunners. 

Dowman did well in his first year with the U18s, scoring 2 and assisting 5 in 7 matches. However, with the departure of Obi, Dowman could really impress in year 2. In 24/25, he’d score 15 and assist 5 in 15 matches, getting time with the U21s as well. He became the youngest ever scorer in the UEFA Youth League at 14 years 8 months, taking Youssoufa Moukoko’s record of 14 years 11 months. 

Arsenal wanted to play him last season in the Premier League, but his debut was blocked due to age issues - he was still too young. However, nothing seems to be able to stop the Premier League allowing him to play now. He’s expected to become a fixture in Arsenal’s first team in 25/26, one of the youngest players ever to do so, his 16th birthday not even coming until halfway through the season.

From watching Dowman, even though he’s naturally an Attacking midfielder, he seems to like drifting out to the right hand side. He has electric dribbling, and even Premier League defenses have to do a lot to stop him. However, with Saka also liking the right hand side, that may become an issue for Dowman in the first team with Arsenal. There also will be a natural rivalry between him and 18-year old Ethan Nwaneri, who was until Dowman’s rise the oober-young Arsenal wonderkid, but is now 3 years older than Dowman. 

For Arsenal fans, the rise of both Dowman and Nwaneri couldn’t be more exciting. 5 World Cups from now, 2042, Dowman will still be just 32. That’s a crazy statistic. Nwaneri will still be 35, and potentially still at a good level, like the greats are at that age. That’s nearly 20 years of production from the two young stars, and in the case of Dowman, we could see well more than 20. 

It’s a lot of expectations to throw on a 15-year old kid, and that’s the paradox at play. We’ve thrown these expectations on many flashy youngsters to come out of Hale End over the years, players like Jack Wilshere, Charlie Patino, Jermaine Pennant, and many others who never lived up to their potential.

For now, we have to look at Dowman’s development with an eye to the future. He’s just 15, and he’ll improve a lot in the next years. We can’t place too much expectation on him. I’d be incredibly surprised if he was even in contention for the England squad next summer for the World Cup, but perhaps Euro 2028 is a more realistic expectation. 

Either way, I can’t wait to see how Dowman develops, and how Arsenal can make him into, maybe, one day, one of the world’s best. Until next time.