Max Doman at Arsenal: What’s next for the teenager – how to nurture a valuable talent?

Being in the first team at such a young age does not mean that future progress will not be free of potential setbacks.

Myles Lewis Skelly joined Arsenal last season aged 18, playing and scoring for England.

But this season, he has only started once in the Premier League, despite being a regular starter in the Champions League.

Arsenal winger Ethan Nwaneri is the only player to make his Premier League debut at a younger age than Doman (15 years and 181 days – 54 days younger than his team-mate).

Last season, as a 17-year-old, he scored nine goals in 37 appearances for Arsenal, but joined Marseille on loan in January after struggling for playing time this season.

Ward says the Doman family “will have to get used to the sights of disappointment.”

“It’s important for parents to handle this properly and realize that this may end at some point due to injury,” she said.

“You might get to a point where he doesn’t get a lot of game time, so he has to play for the Under-21s or Under-23s. That’s how you then deal with that.

“To be fair to Arteta, when he played with Nwaniri and Lewis Skelly, it was necessary because they were both struggling with injuries. That experience helped Arteta because you have to be a really brave manager to play a kid.

“For Arsenal, it’s about managing the ups and downs, because it’s not a straight line. Hopefully this isn’t the best thing to happen to him as a player, but for a lot of players it’s been the best thing in their career.”

Several players in the top 10 youngest Premier League scorers have gone on to have hugely successful careers including James Milner, Wayne Rooney, Cesc Fabregas and Michael Owen.

But James Vaughan, the previous record holder before Dauman, spent most of his career in the Premier League and retired from League Two at Tranmere aged 32.

“I don’t think it’s possible to remain fearless,” Vaughan told Sky Sports in 2021., external “When you become a regular first-team player, people’s wages, jobs and careers are on the line.

“You know you’re responsible for part of it, and you have to take that responsibility. But as a kid you don’t have that responsibility, so you can just go out and play and enjoy your football.”