Neil Warnock sends warning to Mikel Arteta over Arsenal wonderkid Max Dowman

Neil Warnock says Mikel Arteta must be ‘careful’ with his treatment of Arsenal wonderkid Max Dowman as the fame and fortune associated with being a top-level footballer can easily ‘go to the heads’ of young players.

Dowman, 15, has risen through the academy ranks at Arsenal to force his way into the first-team reckoning ahead of the new campaign and is earning rave reviews for his performances on the club’s pre-season tour of Asia.

It was Dowman’s jinking run that won the Gunners a late penalty in the side’s clash with Newcastle in Singapore, which Martin Odegaard duly converted to secure a 3-2 victory.

Arsenal fans will no doubt be hoping to see Dowman given more minutes on Thursday when Arteta’s men take on bitter rivals Tottenham for the next match of their summer trip in Hong Kong.

Dowman was initially drafted into first-team training after a series of injuries in the squad last December, aged just 14, but the teenager has joined Arteta’s group with increasing regularity in recent months and there is talk he could be thrown into the deep end in the Premier League before too long.

Discussing Dowman’s extraordinary rise on talkSPORT, Warnock was keen to stress that ‘if you’re good enough, you’re old enough’. However, the ex-Crystal Palace and QPR boss believes Arsenal have to be wary of placing too many expectations on someone still yet to do their GCSEs.

‘If you’re good enough, you’re old enough,’ Warnock said.

‘But you’ve got to be careful with kids as well, though. With 15-year-olds and the Arsenal lad, it goes to their heads.

‘No matter what you say, it goes to their heads. They read the papers, they get big cars if their not careful.

‘They need good guidance at that age and I’m not sure they get it all together for them at the minute.’

Warnock reflected on his time spent with John Bostock, who was tipped for superstardom as an immensely promising teen, but never truly fulfilled his undoubted potential.

‘It is difficult. In John’s case, when I gave him his debut at Palace, I told him, “If you stay here, you’ll play 50 or 60 games in the next couple of years and your career will take off”.

‘But I think he dad was a big influence on him.

‘He ended up going to Tottenham and never really fulfilled his potential.’

In the wake of Arsenal’s defeat of Newcastle, Arteta credited those around Dowman with giving the youngster a ‘real chance’ of becoming a regular down the line.

The Arsenal head coach told reporters: ‘Obviously what he’s done today against this team in the time that he had on the pitch is something certainly not common to witness for a 15-year-old.

‘We are extremely happy to have him. I think again the environment that he’s around in.

‘His family, the people at the club and around the academy as well, are super helpful because they put him into this position so early in his journey to have a real chance and a real presence when he plays for the first-team.’

For more stories like this, check our sport page.

Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.