Mikel Arteta already has Arsene Wenger warning about how to deal with Max Dowman

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Mikel Arteta can draw lessons from Arsene Wenger's mistakes in managing a developing Theo Walcott as he guides Max Dowman at Arsenal . The 16-year-old became the Premier League's youngest-ever goalscorer at the weekend.

The Gunners' Hale End academy seems to have unearthed another talent in Dowman , who made his first-team debut in 2025 and caught the eye earlier this month in an FA Cup fixture against Mansfield Town.

Arteta demonstrated confidence in the youngster on Saturday and introduced him as Arsenal chased the game versus Everton . Dowman didn't let him down , with his 89th-minute delivery causing havoc and resulting in Viktor Gyokeres' breakthrough. The icing on the cake arrived in stoppage time when he etched his name into the record books as the top flight's youngest scorer.

An unavoidable excitement now envelops Dowman in circumstances reminiscent of Walcott's breakthrough in 2006. Walcott earned a call-up to the England squad for that year's World Cup following his displays, though Arteta can take lessons from this episode and keep Dowman grounded.

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Having only joined Arsenal in January 2006, a teenage Walcott, aged 17, was selected in Sven-Goran Eriksson's Three Lions squad for the World Cup in Germany that summer after demonstrating tremendous potential.

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Walcott didn't get a chance to play but has since confessed that the call-up was a blunder and he was swamped by attention. Speaking on The Overlap in 2023, he admitted: "Honestly, as a 17-year-old going to the World Cup for me, I should never have gone, I've said this.

"Essentially, you try telling a 17-year-old to go and say they're not going to the World Cup for England, I wasn't going to do that. I hadn't asked for it but the manager saw something in me and in the end I didn't play."

When questioned if England or Wenger should have done more to protect him at such a tender age, Walcott responded: "Probably both I'd say, because I'd already played up an age for England, so I was already in the books of 'Keep an eye on this kid,' I suppose.

"I probably could've been protected in that sense. I knew Sven was coming into training and I didn't think anything of it. Obviously, you've got Ashley [Cole] and Sol [Campbell].

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"Then I remember Arsene saying, 'He's going to watch you' and I'm like ok, alright, just thinking for the future type of thing. Then suddenly, that happened, and my whole life changed."

Following the 2-0 victory over Everton on Saturday, Arteta was asked if Dowman could make a last-minute entry into Thomas Tuchel's squad for this year's World Cup. His simple response was: "I don't know. I haven't heard that. But let's go game by game, please."

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