Arsenal have handed 15-year-old academy star Max Dowman his Premier League debut.
Dowman was included among the substitutes ahead of Arsenal’s home match against Leeds United after rising through the club’s academy and came on for Noni Madueke in the 64th minute at the Emirates Stadium.
At 15 years and 235 days, Dowman becomes just the third player to appear in a Premier League game before turning 16 years old after team-mate Ethan Nwaneri (15y, 181d) and Jeremy Monga (15y, 271d), who made his debut for Leicester last season.
The youngster looked calm and composed in his debut and could have had a goal when he cut inside from the right wing and fired a shot just over the bar.
The attacking midfielder had featured for Arsenal in pre-season and travelled with Mikel Arteta’s squad for their opening match at Manchester United.
He came off the bench to play in the pre-season matches against Milan and Newcastle United, catching the eye to be included in Arteta’s plans.
Arteta gave Ethan Nwaneri his first-team debut in the Premier League aged 15 years and 181 days in a match at Brentford in September 2022.
It made Nwaneri the youngest player in Premier League history, a record he continues to hold even though Dowman featured against Leeds.
The England Under-17 international turned 15 in December, and wasn’t allowed to be selected in Arsenal squads last season due to Premier League rules.
Dowman’s career so far
Dowman was born on New Year’s Eve in 2009 in Chelmsford, Essex, and made his debut for Arsenal U18s in September 2023, aged just 13.
In September of last year, he made his debut for England U17s – scoring in a 5-0 win over Mexico – before becoming the youngest player ever to score in a Uefa Youth League game when he netted in Arsenal’s 4-1 loss to Atalanta.
He became the youngest ever Premier League 2 player at 14 years old in December 2024.
Several figures have been sure to temper expectations on the youngster, with Declan Rice pointing out that “you can be the best 15-year-old in the country, but it doesn’t necessarily mean you are going to be at 18”.
“You need to be hungry, keep working and keep pushing. I speak to Max a lot and he has got such a good family around him,” added the England midfielder.
More recently, former Gunners left-back Ashley Cole also tried to ease the pressure on the youngster, saying that the level of expectation on him is unfair.
“You have to be a little bit more careful on how how you handle this younger generation of players,” said Cole. “You heap this pressure on these players and I don’t think it’s fair.”
