Arteta backs Dowman to chase youngest Champions League scorer record against Slavia Prague

Mikel Arteta has backed Max Dowman to seize a historic opportunity when Arsenal travel to Slavia Prague in the Champions League, with the 16-year-old in contention to start at the venue where he already made history. One year ago to the day, Dowman became the youngest player ever to feature in the Champions League, aged 15 years and 308 days, as Arsenal won 3-0 in Prague.

Dowman is currently serving a three-match domestic suspension that rules him out of Premier League football until 29 November, making the European fixture a potential route back into the starting XI. Should he score, he would surpass Ansu Fati’s record as the youngest goalscorer in Champions League history — a mark set at 17 years and 40 days.

Arteta was measured but warm in his assessment of the teenager, who was sent off in a recent EFL Trophy fixture against Fleetwood. “That’s a chapter that is gone,” the Arsenal manager said. “It’s a moment of learning from all of us, and we move on. You learn from the not-so-good ones, you have to make sure you learn from the great ones as well. And he’s been engaged.”

The Spaniard described a candid, direct relationship with his young forward. “I sit down with him and I just say, have you seen my press conference? What do you think? I’m just honest with him,” Arteta said. “He’s in a good place and that at the end is going to come out as a critical point in his career where he needs to learn about something that is going to be happening a few times every game for him.”

Arteta added that Dowman’s outlook remains a strength. “When you see the kids and today we spent some time together, talking about things in training, he’s always super positive. When you’re 16 you have a different way of looking at things and treating things, and that’s what he brings to the team as well.”

Arsenal arrive in the Czech capital in strong form, having beaten Liverpool 1-0 at Anfield last Sunday. Arteta is expected to rotate his squad, though Slavia’s record of no wins in their past 22 Champions League matches makes the fixture a reasonable opportunity to hand Dowman his first start in the competition. The hosts’ poor European run offers further context for why Arsenal’s manager may feel comfortable blooding his youngest talent from the off.