Former Manchester United midfielder Nicky Butt has warned Arsenal that they need to be super careful to ensure they get the best of Max Dowman over the years.
Dowman is the new kid on the block at just 16 but after exploding onto the scene this weekend, Arsenal’s youngster is very much a talking point.
However, while Dowman’s talent is obvious, former United treble winner Nicky Butt has fired a warning to everyone involved.
How closely do you think Max Dowman will follow in Lamine Yamal’s footsteps?
Nicky Butt tells Arsenal to look after Max Dowman
Like any young player, Dowman is going to need time to develop both on and off the field, and both emotionally and physically.
And according to Butt, it’s now about ensuring those people around him are spot on.
“It’s one of them where, no matter what fan you are, it brings you to the edge of your seat when you see someone playing with that much ability and freedom. It’s just like, wow,” Butt said on the latest episode of The Good, The Bad and The Football.
“And that’s what you get when you’re young. You really don’t care. You go and get the football and go and do it. And he’ll have his ups and downs. But again, like Scholesy said, with the players around him, it will be very important not just for the next six or seven games but for the next two or three seasons.
“Because the spotlight will be on him as he starts playing regularly. The spotlight will hit him like it hit Wayne Rooney, like it hit Michael Owen, all these teenage superstars.
“So that’s when you have to be really careful who is around you.”
Butt’s warning comes from a good place having been in the position himself as part of the golden generation at Manchester United.
Butt was lucky in the sense he came through with a bunch of other young players but he was also helped by the experience of Steve Bruce, Gary Pallister and Paul Ince, among others. Not to mention he had Sir Alex Ferguson as the perfect mentor.
It’s now vital for Mikel Arteta to look at what Fergie did and learn from that with Dowman.
If Arsenal and Arteta do get it spot on, then they might just have their perfect playmaker for years to come.
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