Noni Madueke is expected to be sidelined for the next two months. It has since been revealed that he was withdrawn at half-time of the 1-1 draw with Manchester City due to a knee injury he picked up during the match.
It is a cruel blow, especially as he looked to be finding his rhythm in an Arsenal shirt. The £52 million Arsenal paid for him had started to look like a bargain, as he was beginning to look like Arsenal’s most dangerous player.
A big loss he will be, but his absence could finally give Mikel Arteta the chance to unleash Max Dowman.
Time for Hale End’s finest
Dowman is widely seen as the next great thing to emerge from the Arsenal academy. His ball progression is outstanding, consistently evading pressure at pace, identifying space in the final third, and delivering intricate passes with timing and precision.
Only 15 years old, yet watching him operate on Arsenal’s right wing in pre-season and across two cameo appearances this season, he has oozed confidence. He looks ready to punch above his weight, manipulating the ball with maturity beyond his years.
With Madueke sidelined, Arteta may now be forced to turn to Dowman to share the right-wing workload with Bukayo Saka.
Managing Saka’s minutes
Having just returned from injury, Arsenal’s number 7 needs his minutes carefully managed. Ethan Nwaneri deputised for Saka last season, but he is now being moulded into a Martin Ødegaard alternative, with Arteta shifting the Hale End graduate into his preferred central role.
With Nwaneri playing through the middle, and Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Martinelli battling for the left wing, Dowman could be handed his chance to break into the Arsenal side on the right. He has not featured in any of Arsenal’s last three games, but that could be about to change.
It is time for Mikel Arteta to be bold and back quality. Players like Dowman could be the spark to fire Arsenal to glory. If you are good enough, you are old enough.
What do you think, Gooners? Should Arteta trust Max Dowman with a bigger role while Madueke recovers?
Daniel O
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Doesn’t seem right to me – nwaneri has shown he can be effective at RW and he’s got some experience from last season too build on. We’ve got eze to play in the middle and other options I’d turn to before a 15 year old, especially from the start of games.
Talent wise, I do think dowman is top, but he needs a year on the edges (at least) before getting a bigger role. If for no other reason, he’s probably still growing and the last thing we’d want is to tempt injuries that could effect him later on.
I’m so glad I’ll be seeing more of super max, sympaties to madueke tho.
Tonight’s lineup is more like it, guess arteta have been reading my comments😄
This kid is quite advanced for his tender age, only a matter of time before the cemetery of talents starts circling.
Just as the Bernabeu giant did with Martin Odegaard and Samuel Eto