Mikel Arteta can draw lessons from Arsene Wenger's handling of a young Theo Walcott as he manages Arsenal's latest teenage sensation, Max Dowman. The 16-year-old became the Premier League's youngest-ever goalscorer on Saturday, scoring in stoppage time against Everton after earlier setting up Viktor Gyokeres.
Dowman, a product of Arsenal's Hale End academy, made his first-team debut in 2025 and impressed in an FA Cup tie against Mansfield Town. His breakthrough has drawn comparisons to Walcott's emergence in 2006, when the then-17-year-old was called up to England's World Cup squad.
Walcott later admitted the call-up was a mistake, saying on The Overlap in 2023: 'Honestly, as a 17-year-old going to the World Cup for me, I should never have gone.' He felt both England and Wenger could have done more to protect him from the attention.
When asked if Dowman could make England's World Cup squad, Arteta replied: 'I don't know. I haven't heard that. But let's go game by game, please.' The manager's cautious approach suggests he is heeding Wenger's error by keeping the teenager grounded.
