Arsenal wonderkid Max Dowman could still be sent out on loan during the second half of the campaign despite his rapid progress. BBC Sport report that the club would only consider such an arrangement if they can find a team that would benefit his development.
Arteta on Dowman's future
Dowman scored his first Premier League goal last season and grabbed his first senior double in a Carabao Cup victory at Ipswich on Tuesday. He will not celebrate his 17th birthday until December, with manager Mikel Arteta discussing the Gunners' strategy after previously approving loan spells for fellow youngster Ethan Nwaneri.
"We will evaluate every six months where we are and what is the best thing for him to do and then make the right decision," Arteta said before Saturday's trip to Brighton. "It depends on a lot of factors. What he needs, and what the team needs as well, the availability we have in the squad, the minutes that he is playing and the qualities of those minutes. We have to be open, but now the focus is to be here and to impact the team."
Brighton defeat and Weinhandl links
Arsenal were left shellshocked by their 3-0 defeat away to Brighton on Saturday. The Gunners were comfortably second-best and suffered their worst result under Arteta for some time, with the Spaniard scathing in his assessment of the performance. Arteta felt that the squad 'disrespected' footballing principles.
Austrian teenage prospect Luca Weinhandl is the latest emerging talent linked with Arsenal, as well as other elite European sides. The 6'3" midfielder has already established himself in the Sturm Graz senior squad, finding the net in a Champions League qualifying triumph against Hearts in July.
Weinhandl will not turn 18 until January, but Sturm boss Fabio Ingolitsch dismissed any transfer speculation. "These days, you can put so much information into someone that all sorts of rumours are formed. We couldn't care less," he said. "We know what we have in Luca, that he's a highly talented player who, at 17, plays as if he's already played countless international matches. A very special lad, we know that, and yet we can all put it into perspective and are very happy that he's with us. He will help us immensely this year."
