Arsenal have player who 'is like Lamine Yamal' and 'is going to be world-class'

Cristhian Mosquera has delivered a glowing assessment of Arsenal wonderkid Max Dowman, branding the 15-year-old as 'Lamine-esque' in a comparison to Barcelona superstar Lamine Yamal. The teenager made his Premier League debut earlier this season, earning a penalty against Leeds United, and is highly regarded by Gunners' manager Mikel Arteta.

Dowman has been training with the first-team squad over the past 18 months, with growing belief that Arsenal possess a genuinely exceptional talent. "I don't mean to compare, but his style and way of playing is like Lamine Yamal," Mosquera told The Athletic. "His movements are Lamine-esque."

"I didn't have him on my radar and when I got to Singapore, he was already training and playing. When they told me he was 15, I couldn't believe it. He really is an incredible player, and I think he's going to be world-class.

"You see 17-and 18-year-olds like Myles (Lewis-Skelly) or Ethan (Nwaneri) and they play like they're 30, like they've been playing football their whole lives. It's incredible."

Arteta has been careful to manage expectations surrounding Dowman's progression, and when questioned about how senior players have responded to training alongside the youngster, the Arsenal manager offered a brilliant reply.

"At the beginning, they responded immediately, kick him!" he laughed. "That was the first one.

"And Max, to be fair, he was excellent. He stood up and got into the next one. You can really take an impression of someone who was 14 last year at some point when he was doing certain things to players.

"And now, yeah, everybody loves him. You just want to hug him, help him. He's such a nice boy as well, and he's very much liked by everybody here. And just looking after us.

"It brings responsibility to look after somebody with that talent and make sure we just do what we have to do to make sure we're giving him the best chance to exploit his talent. That's all."