MAX DOWMAN has agreed scholarship terms with Arsenal ahead of signing his first pro deal in 2026.
The 15-year-old has emerged as one of the brightest teenage talents on the planet after forcing his way into Gunners boss Mikel Arteta’s first-team plans.
He made his Prem debut against Leeds United in August, aged 15 years and 235 days – the second-youngest to do so at Arsenal after teammate Ethan Nwaneri in September 2022 at the age of 15 years and 181 days.
And he is on the verge of switching from schoolboy terms to scholarship terms once he turns 16 on December 31. The terms will officially come into effect at the start of next term.
That will tie him down for two years, and Arsenal will then be quickly moving towards working on a senior deal for when he turns 17 next December.
Other major clubs both in England and across Europe were circling looking to entice Dowman with mega-money offers.
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But Dowman – whose negotiations were handled by his father – only ever wanted to sign for his boyhood club, where he hopes to become a regular squad player under Arteta in the coming years.
Dowman featured for the seniors in all three of their friendlies during the club’s pre-season tour in Singapore and has made three first-team appearances this season, alongside shining for the club’s U19s and U21s.
He made his U18s debut when he was just 13, and has been earmarked to emulate other Hale End graduates like Bukayo Saka, Myles Lewis-Skelly and Nwaneri.
This also comes after Nwaneri and Lewis-Skelly all signed senior contract extensions this summer to cement their futures in North London, despite major interest from elsewhere.
Dowman is also making waves on the international stage, making his England U19s debut this month and scoring against Wales, with U21s boss Lee Carsley keeping a close eye on his progress.
Arteta said recently of Dowman’s development: “Preparing a very good understanding of his new situation and all the things that are different in his life.
“We need to change his times, his education, his allocation, where he is with his family. His diet is different, his sleep pattern is different, the training load is different. The amount of information, pressure and exposure is different, so we have to manage a lot of factors.
“When you add a lot of minutes with different teams, we need to be cautious and very careful.
“That’s what we are trying to do to find that balance to keep Max as connected as possible to the first team, but we need the right mixture of minutes like the other day with the Under-21s.”
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