Jack Wilshere tips 14-year-old to be fast-tracked to the Arsenal first team after recent displays

Arsenal youngster Max Dowman made his debut for the North London club’s U18 side at the start of the season at the age of 13 and his coach, Jack Wilshere, can see him being fast-tracked to the first team after his recent performances.

The midfielder made his debut for the Gunners’ U18 team back in September, playing 22 minutes in a 4-0 win.

After being left out of the squad for months, Wilshere has brought Dowman back over the last two weeks and the youngster has impressed massively.

Across the two matches he played, the 14-year-old produced four goal contributions, with a game against Fulham seeing the midfielder bag a hat-trick of assists.

This has got the Arsenal U18’s coach very excited about the player’s future and has tipped Dowman to be fast-tracked to the first team, where he will develop even further under the watch of Mikel Arteta.

Jack Wilshere tips Jack Dowman to make the first team at Arsenal

Arsenal’s Ethan Nwaneri holds the record for the youngest player to have ever featured in a Premier League match when he came on against Brentford in September 2022 aged 15 years and 181 days.

Dowman and the Gunners will not be looking to beat this but it could happen with the youngster’s talent and Wilshere spoke about the 14-year-old after his hat-trick of assists against Fulham.

“There’s always a concern when fielding such a young player in these matches, but if you’re good enough you’re old enough,” Wilshere told club media.

“He can be more consistent but he’s only 14 and hasn’t even started his GCSEs yet.

“We need to find a balance of letting him play and enjoy the game because of his age but also trying to get as much work into him as we can.

“Hopefully, we can fast-track him and when he goes over to the first team he’ll