Arteta leaves door open for loan move for Arsenal's 16-year-old sensation Max Dowman

Two goals in Ipswich were enough to reopen the debate. Max Dowman, just 16 years old, scored a brace in Arsenal's 4-2 win in the Carabao Cup and, in doing so, put back on the table a question that has hovered around the club for months: what do you do with a kid this good when he still doesn't have a settled place in the first team?

Mikel Arteta's answer, at Friday's press conference, was clear and straightforward: Arsenal is "open" to letting him leave on loan if he isn't playing enough. It's not an immediate plan or a decision that's been made, but it is a door the manager acknowledges exists, one that will be reviewed on a regular basis.

"We haven't listened to any of the possibilities yet because we were very clear that we wanted to have Max in the squad, that we wanted him to be part of preseason and then start to see where we were from there," Arteta explained. He added the detail that shapes the whole situation: "We will evaluate every six months" what the best decision is for the youngster.

Wilshere already knocked on the door

The interest isn't theoretical. Jack Wilshere, the former Arsenal midfielder now managing Luton in League One, has reportedly already spoken with Arteta about the possibility of taking Dowman on loan. The calendar detail matters here: the teenager turns 17 on December 31, just one day before the winter transfer window opens, which would make him eligible to leave on loan as soon as January begins.

Arteta was transparent about the factors weighing on that decision: "It depends on many factors. What he needs and what the team needs as well, the availability we have in the squad, the minutes he's playing and the quality of those minutes. We have to be open, but right now the focus is on being here and having an impact on the team."

The most recent precedent at the club is Ethan Nwaneri, another academy gem, who went out on loan to Marseille last January at age 18. Arteta had justified that move at the time by saying Nwaneri needed to "swim with the sharks." After his spell in France, Nwaneri was loaned out again, this time to Borussia Dortmund, for this season.

Asked whether Dowman might be "too young" for a loan, the Spanish manager drew on his own history: "There have been many cases at that age where it's gone well for them and others where it hasn't. In my particular case, I was 17 when I went to Paris Saint-Germain. It depends on the environment you find there and how much the manager trusts you, whether you're just going to be part of a squad or actually play minutes. It also depends on the country. But right now he's in a good place, let's keep him here."

Dowman will compete for his first Premier League start of the season this Saturday against Brighton, a match in which Arsenal will look to keep its perfect record intact. Asked whether the teenager has been "knocking on his door" to ask for minutes, Arteta answered with a line that sums up his philosophy with the club's young players:

"The best way to knock on the door is to do it on the pitch, not in the office. That way you set arguments aside. When a player performs consistently on the field, every day in training, that's the best signal for the manager and for his teammates too. What Max did the other day, along with all the other players who haven't had many minutes this season, was really impressive."Mikel Arteta