The writing is on the wall for £34,000,000 Arsenal star after what Mikel Arteta just told Max Dowman

Add as preferred source on Google

Mikel Arteta has made a bold decision regarding Max Dowman’s future at Arsenal.

With the end of the 2024/25 season in sight, the Gunners are already preparing for how next term could look.

First, Arsenal will have their work cut out in the summer transfer window, with sporting director Andrea Berta having a huge job to tend to. 

For Arteta, the pressure is on to find a way to win silverware, as the Arsenal manager begins to take his first steps of preparation for the 2025/26 calendar. 

Max Dowman is in Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal first-team plans

Declan Rice revealed Arsenal are expected to lose players in the summer, giving Berta a window to bolster the squad. 

Aside from looking externally, it’s understood that Arteta has already sounded out an internal solution regarding the need for additional squad depth.

That solution is Hale End superstar Max Dowman, as Mirror journalist John Cross revealed. 

Cross shared the news that Arteta has told Dowman that he will be a part of the Arsenal first team next season. 

It’s understood that the 15-year-old will join up with the squad for the pre-season tour of Asia and will then be integrated into the first team, ready for competitive action.

The Mirror reporter also shared that the Gunners have plans for the teenager to compete with Martin Odegaard as a ‘long-term’ goal, telling all that needs to be known about the youngster’s potential.

Dowman has had a remarkable season in Arsenal’s academy and has already charmed Arteta, making the decision to promote him so early into his career almost unsurprising. 

Fabio Vieira’s time at Arsenal is surely over

Adding another creative midfielder to the mix is much needed, but it only represents how the future could look for Arsenal. 

Arteta had a clear-out in the position during the summer, letting Emile Smith Rowe leave permanently while Fabio Vieira left on loan. 

Though Vieira has been impressing at Porto, Dowman’s promotion surely signifies the end of the road for the £34m signing, who has yet to consistently impress since arriving in 2022.

Keeping Vieira around would be a smart decision, but having enjoyed a successful season in his homeland, it would be smart to assume that the midfielder will be eyeing regular football next term.

It looks as though it’s out with the old and in with the new in Arsenal’s midfield for the 2025/26 campaign, with the new represented by teenage duo Dowman and Ethan Nwaneri.