Bukayo Saka's quadriceps injury could hand 16-year-old Max Dowman the Arsenal chance he has been waiting for, just a fortnight after Lionel Messi named the teenager one of the rising stars of world football.
Saka was forced off just 10 minutes into Wednesday's 2-2 Champions League draw at Bayern Munich after clutching his left thigh while playing a pass. He was due to have a scan on Thursday, and Mikel Arteta admitted the injury "doesn't look good at all". According to The Times, Saka seems unlikely to return before next month's international break — and that absence is Dowman's opening.
A teenager Messi has already noticed
Dowman has had to be patient this season. Despite being a full-time member of Arteta's first-team squad, he has played only 14 minutes in the Premier League and Champions League combined. Yet the hype around him keeps growing.
A fortnight ago, Messi named Dowman among his rising future stars of football, alongside Crystal Palace's 19-year-old American winger Zavier Gozo and Club Tijuana's 18-year-old Mexican midfielder Gilberto Mora, who has himself been linked with Arsenal. That endorsement came on top of a breakthrough that already includes becoming Arsenal's second-youngest player ever, winning a penalty on his league debut against Leeds United in August last year aged 15 years and 234 days, and becoming Arsenal's youngest starter against Brighton in the Carabao Cup aged 15 years and 302 days.
The evidence he is ready
When Dowman has been trusted, he has delivered. Last month he starred in the 4-2 Carabao Cup win at Ipswich Town, scoring twice — joining Wayne Rooney as one of only two 16-year-olds to score twice in a game for a Premier League side. And Everton, Arsenal's visitors on Saturday, have seen this film before: in March, Dowman scored the breakaway goal in a 2-0 league win over the Toffees, racing more than half the length of the pitch to become the Premier League's youngest scorer at 16 years and 73 days.
Sky Sports notes Arteta has so far taken a cautious approach with Dowman, who also suffered a minor injury with England's Under-19s, but the manager vowed last month: "Max will have his chance. He will have his minutes and he will have to earn them like anybody else."
There was even a brief scare before the Bayern game, when Ben White accidentally stood on Dowman's foot during the warm-up. The teenager laughed it off and stayed available — just as well, because he was Arsenal's only other natural wide option on the bench in Munich.
Who starts on the right against Everton?
Dowman is unlikely to walk straight into the starting eleven. Noni Madueke moved to the right against Bayern after Saka went off and is the senior option there, having shared duties with Eberechi Eze on the left while Christos Tzolis has been out with a hamstring injury. Tzolis himself now holds an outside chance of making Saturday's squad, which would ease the shortage further.
But like Saka and Madueke, Dowman is left-footed and natural on the right. If Madueke stays on the left, the door on the right opens. And if Dowman does not start against Everton, Tuesday's Carabao Cup tie at Fleetwood Town looks a near-certain opportunity, with Slavia Prague in the Champions League also on the horizon.
So what: Saka's loss could accelerate a star
Arsenal can ill afford to lose Saka — he had started all seven of their Premier League matches this season — at a moment when their wide options are already thin. Yet injuries are how teenage breakthroughs often happen. Arteta has protected Dowman all season; the schedule may now force his hand, and a run of minutes against Everton, Fleetwood and Slavia is exactly the kind of stage on which a Messi-endorsed talent can turn potential into proof.
Beyond the Final Whistle: Nobody at Arsenal wanted it to happen this way, but Saka's injury may be the making of Dowman. Arteta's caution was understandable — until Messi, Rooney comparisons and a two-goal Carabao Cup display made the clamour impossible to ignore. If Dowman gets his minutes now and takes them, Arsenal will have gained a genuine second star on the right wing from the worst night of their season. Should Arteta start Dowman against Everton, or protect him for Fleetwood? Tell us in the comments.
