Declan Rice names Arsenal youngster as best 15yo in England | OneFootball

Declan Rice believes Arsenal’s Max Dowman is the best 15-year-old footballer in the country, calling the midfielder ‘one to watch’.

Photo via Arsenal.com

Arsenal first-team midfielder Declan Rice is convinced the club have a future star in the middle, currently playing for the Gunners’ academy teams.

Mikel Arteta has already promoted youth midfielder Ethan Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelly to the Arsenal first team this season, but Rice believes the club have another star in Max Dowman.

“Max is the best 15-year-old in the country,” Rice insisted. “I have had so many texts about Max recently where people have watched him and said: ‘Wow, what a talent’. So he is one to watch out for.”

Photo via Arsenal.com

“But I think at 15 there is still such a long way to go,” the England international continued. “You can be the best in the country at 15, but it doesn’t necessarily mean at 18 you are going to be.

“So you need to be hungry, keep working, keep pushing. I speak with Max a lot and he knows that. And he has got such a good family around him. He is unreal.

“Luckily enough, I have a really good relationship with all three of them (Dowman, Nwaneri, and Lewis-Skelly) because Max gets to train with us quite a lot.

“Those three I have kind of taken under my wing a little bit because I have been in that position before and I had older players help me out.”

Photo via Arsenal Academy on Twitter

Dowman is away with the England u17s over the international break, helping them to qualify for the u17 Euros and the u17 World Cup later this year.

Back with Arsenal, the 15-year-old has already made his u21 debut, and he’s directly contributed to 13 goals in his 18 appearances in the u18 Premier League and FA Youth Cup.

The midfielder even has his first goal at the Emirates Stadium, scoring in the FA Youth Cup quarter-final against Manchester United.

Arsenal won’t want to rush Dowman. They’ve been here before with Nwaneri at the same age, and the steady integration into Arteta’s squad seemed to do the youngster good.

As Rice points out, it’s not about being the best 15-year-old, it’s about making sure you’re still the best as an adult.