Arsenal must convince teenage sensation Max Dowman there is a clear pathway to first team football before he commits to signing a professional contract.
The 15-year-old is already earning rave reviews following his performances for Arsenal’s youth teams and he is already firmly on Mikel Arteta’s radar.
Dowman has trained regularly alongside the likes of Martin Odegaard and Declan Rice this season and was included on the club’s warm weather training camp to Dubai in January.
Premier League rules have prevented Dowman from making his senior debut this season but it appears increasingly likely he will be welcomed into the fold next term.
Dowman turns 16 in December and it as that point that Arsenal will hope to secure his long-term future.
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According to The Athletic, Arsenal are understood to be in a strong position but with their rivals carefully monitoring the midfielder’s situation they will have to assure him of suitable plan for his development before he puts pen to paper.
Arsenal have a mixed record over the last 12 months when it comes to retaining the services of their best Hale End Academy graudates.
While both Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ethan Nwaneri are both fully-fledged members of Arteta’s first team having bothmade significant breakthroughs over the course of the last six months, two potential stars have departed.
Striker Chido Obi joined Manchester United back in October and defender Ayden Heaven followed suit in January.
Both have already made their top flight debuts under Ruben Amorim and now look set for careers at the top level having doubted they would have enjoyed opportunities to flourish at Arsenal.
Regardless of where he ends up, it seems inevitable that Dowman will succeed given the buzz and hype around him.
In an interview with talkSPORT last week, John Terry recalled the recent meeting between Chelsea and Arsenal’s youth sides and tipped Dowman to reach the very top.
But the former captain also highlighted the efforts of Chelsea’s brightest talents who kept the Arsenal prodigy in check.
‘There are these three or four [Chelsea] boys playing up at the 18s already, playing there at the age of 14 and 15,’ Terry said.
‘That is a different level and they are standing out at that level.
‘What I love about a couple of them, they have got a little bit of personality.
‘We were playing against Arsenal recently and Max Dowman was playing. Have you seen him play? He is a top, top player.
‘He was taking the ball on the half turn, drifting away from players, looking back and a couple of our boys went and put it on him a little bit. It was good to see. But Dowman is a very, very good player.’