Mikel Arteta reveals stance on Max Dowman loan move amid 'approaches' for Arsenal wonderkid
Mikel Arteta is open to the possibility of Arsenal one day sending Max Dowman out on loan.
The 16-year-old continues to make an impact when given first-team opportunities, scoring a brace against Ipswich in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday night.
Dowman made six Premier League appearances last season and also became the youngest player in Champions League history.
The teenager will be eligible to go on loan once he turns 17 at the end of December. There have already been suggestions that clubs have approached Arsenal to enquire about Dowman.
Arsenal are not open to loaning him out as it stands, but Arteta did not rule out that stance changing in the future.
"We haven't really listened to any of the possibilities because we were crystal clear that we wanted to have him in the squad," Arteta said.
"That we wanted him to be part of the pre-season and then start to see where we are from there. We will evaluate every six months, where we are and what is the best thing for him to do and then make the right decision."
Arteta indicated he would not necessarily have a problem with sending a 17-year-old out on loan, having joined Paris Saint-Germain himself at the same age.
"There have been many cases of that age when they have gone out and been successful and others not," Arteta said.
"In my particular case I was 17 when I went to Paris. It depends on the atmosphere that you find there and how much the coach believes in you, whether you go there just to be part of a squad or play minutes. Which country, it depends.
"But now he is in a good place, let's keep him here."
Like Dowman, Ethan Nwaneri made his first-team debut under Arteta at the age of 15.
After three years around the first team, Arsenal made the decision to send Nwaneri on loan to Marseille for the second half of last season.
Nwaneri was 18 at that stage, with Arteta keen for the teenager to be "thrown into the sharks".
Asked whether Dowman needed a similar experience, Arteta replied: "With Ethan it took us a while to make that decision.
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"It depends on a lot of factors - what he needs and what the team needs as well, the availability we have in the squad, the minutes that he is playing and the qualities of those minutes.
"We have to be open but now the focus is to be here and to impact the team.”