Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta hails 15-year-old Max Dowman’s ‘special’ performance after becoming the club’s youngest-ever starter in Carabao Cup win over Brighton.

Mikel Arteta has praised Max Dowman’s “special” performance after the 15-year-old prodigy became Arsenal’s youngest-ever starter in Wednesday’s 2-0 win over Brighton in the League Cup fourth round. 

Dowman’s dazzling display, which included some incredible skill and courage, belied his tender years and earned him a standing ovation after coming off in the second half.

Arteta was delighted with Dowman’s composed performance, saying: “A tiny smile, that’s what you get with him. For him everything is natural, for him everything is OK. It’s the way he plays and that’s the secret, that he doesn’t make a big fuss of it.”

The Gunners boss added: “He just does what he does best, which is to play football. To play football with a lot of courage and determination and today again, he has shown some incredible skill, some capacity to run past players at that level in the Premier League at 15. It’s definitely something special.”

Dowman’s impressive debut has raised expectations, and Arteta expects the highly-rated teenager to be pushing for more regular action. “For sure, if you ask him. That’s what we have to manage and not only that, there’s a lot of things that are new in his life,” Arteta said.

The Arsenal manager emphasized the need to protect Dowman, who is still in school, and ensure he takes the right steps in his development. “We have to make sure that he takes the right steps and he needs be able to cope with it, too, because it’s happening very, very fast and we all need to be aware of that.”

“Let’s encourage him to keep going that way, but let’s protect him as well,” he said.

The Carabao Cup win sets up a quarter-final tie against Crystal Palace, and Arteta will be hoping Dowman can continue to make an impact.