Where are they now? The 11 Under-17s to make their debut for Arsenal

Marli Salmon and Max Dowman started in Arsenal ‘s FA Cup victory over Mansfield. Neither were making their debut, but having two 16-year-olds on the pitch was a piece of history for the club.

Just 11 players in Arsenal’s long and storied history have represented the club at senior level before turning 17. Some of them became world-class legends, while others faded into obscurity.

We’ve taken a closer look at the 11 players to make their Arsenal debut before their 17th birthday, and where they ended up.

15 years, 181 days

Nwaneri became the Premier League’s youngest-ever debutant back in 2022.

He still holds that record, although Gunners team-mate Max Dowman and Leicester City’s Jeremy Monga have since also featured in the competition at the age of 15.

It’s wild to think that debut, as a late substitute to see out a win over Brentford, was almost four years ago and he’s still only 18 years of age.

The attacking midfielder only made one further appearance over the following couple of years before Mikel Arteta eventually integrated him into the first-team set-up in 2024-25.

But the teenager has dropped back down the pecking order following the summer reinforcements and is now getting valuable experience out on loan at Marseille . Still plenty of time to stake his claim as a first-team regular back at his parent club.

15 years, 302 days

After some otherworldly displays in Arsenal’s youth team and electric displays for the senior team in pre-season, Dowman was getting hyped before he was legally able to buy a party popper in the UK.

Arteta didn’t waste time giving him a proper taste of the action, subbing him on during a 5-0 thrashing of Leeds back in August.

He won a penalty during his short time on the pitch, and his tricky dribbling raised the question of when – not if – he’d break the Premier League’s youngest goalscorer record .

But Dowman only needed to look at Nwaneri’s long wait for further opportunities to see that’s far from guaranteed. He hasn’t appeared in the league since August and his only starts have been in the cups.

After being sidelined for a few months with an ankle injury, he returned to the fold against Mansfield and will be hoping to kick on and make an impact in Arsenal’s title charge.

The winger still has about 200 days to break James Vaughan’s record.

16 years, 72 days

Another one of Mikel Arteta’s Hale End babies, Porter became the youngest-ever player to start a game for Arsenal in a 5-1 League Cup victory over Bolton Wanderers back in September 2024.

Eighteen months later, the highly-rated goalkeeper is yet to make a second appearance. With the experienced Kepa Arrizabalaga serving as David Raya’s back-up, you wouldn’t bank on that being any time soon.

The England Under-19 international is continuing his development for Arsenal’s youth teams, while you imagine a loan could be on the cards next season.

16 years, 103 days

The latest child prodigy to emerge out of Hale End, Salmon made headlines by featuring off the bench in a routine 3-0 victory over Club Brugge in December.

He made further substitute appearances in the comfortable FA Cup victories over Portsmouth and Wigan before making his first start against Mansfield.

We don’t expect to see the defender in the Premier League any time soon, but maybe he’ll feature in a victory lap if the Gunners wrap things up with games to spare.

16 years, 177 days

Whatever happened to that guy?

After breaking through on the periphery in Arsenal’s invincible era, Fabregas went on to become the second youngest player to reach 300 appearances for the club (after David O’Leary).

Silverware was conspicuously lacking as Arsenal made an awkward transition to the Emirates, but he started in the club’s only Champions League final appearance and went on to lift plenty of trophies with Barcelona , Chelsea and Spain.

Nowadays he’s got Como punching above their weight to challenge for Champions League qualification, and it appears only a matter of time before he lands another top job.

16 years, 256 days

Another one whereby seeing him sat in a dugout makes us feel hopelessly, terrifyingly old.

Wilshere played almost two hundred games for his beloved boyhood Gunners, and won two FA Cups, but injuries robbed him of ever consistently reaching the level he showed in that early display against Barcelona .

He hung up his boots after a stint with Danish side AGF in 2022 and is now managing Luton after coaching stints at Arsenal’s Under-18s and Norwich City.

16 years, 319 days

Pennant made his debut way back in 1999 and went to spend the noughties threatening to realise his potential without ever quite doing it.

In hindsight, it feels wild that he started in a Champions League final, Liverpool’s lesser-remembered 2007 rematch with AC Milan that ended in a 2-1 defeat.

It would be fair to say he never really settled anywhere properly, and he finally retired in 2017 following stints with Pune City, Wigan Athletic, Tampines Rovers, Bury and Billericay Town.

Post-retirement it’s felt as though he’s fulfilled his true calling as reality TV tabloid ‘love rat’ fodder, occasionally serving as a talkSPORT pundit.

16 years, 321 days

Going back a bit for this one. Ask your grandparents.

Born in Stepney, Ward made his debut in 1953, an era when ‘wing half’ was still a recognised position.

He made 81 league appearances for the Gunners and later represented Leyton Orient, Cambridge City and Barnet, who he also briefly managed.

Ward died in 1994 at the age of just 57.

16 years, 346 days

The striker rose through the ranks to represent Arsenal in the late ’70s and early ’80s, and famously scored the late match-winner in the 1980 Cup Winners’ Cup semi-final victory away to Juventus.

Unfortunately, Vaessen suffered horrible luck with injuries and he was forced into early retirement. He fell into a life of drugs and crime and died of a suspected overdose at age 39 in 2001.

We thoroughly recommend The Guardian ‘s long read on Vaessen’s sad story.

16 years, 352 days

A local lad from Islington, Smith made his Gunners in a League Cup clash with Rotherham United in 2003. He converted his penalty in the shootout win, and made a further five appearances in that competition, but he never featured in the Premier League .

After leaving his hometown club, Smith embarked on a fairly unspectacular career turning out intermittently for the likes of Derby County, Millwall, Southampton and Crystal Palace in the Championship and League One.

Smith retired in 2013 after stints in America and Greece. He’s kept a relatively low profile since then, but he did a Reddit AMA a few years back.

16 years, 363 days

Followers of the United States national team were excited when the Berlin-born midfielder began to make waves in Arsenal’s youth team in the early 2010s.

Zelalem represented both Germany and United States at youth level, but he’s never earned a senior international cap. And he never appeared in the Premier League , his early appearances for Arsenal were brief cup cameos amid loans away to Rangers and VVV-Venlo.

Nowadays he’s back in the States turning out for New Mexico United, who play in America’s second-tier USL Championship.