It is possible that Arsenal will be able to make a request for “special dispensation” from the Premier League in order to make use of a player who is widely considered to be one of their most promising students from their academy.
After Kai Havertz, a German forward, suffered an injury that will prevent him from playing for the remainder of the 2024–2025 season, the Gunners will be looking for ways to find a replacement for him.
Havertz, who has made 34 appearances for Mikel Arteta’s team this season and has scored 15 goals, suffered a torn hamstring while they were in Dubai for their warm weather training camp last week.
Following the conclusion of a specialist review and evaluation, which confirmed that the injury will necessitate surgical intervention, the club issued a statement to confirm the news that every Arsenal fan had been dreading.
“Kai will begin his recovery and rehabilitation programme, which is expected to extend into pre-season preparations for next season,” according to the official announcement.
With Havertz joining the likes of Gabriel Martinelli, Gabriel Jesus, and Bukayo Saka on the sidelines, Arteta is being left with a significant deficiency in the amount of firepower available in forward areas. But what about Max Dowman, who is still a young boy?
The attacking midfielder, who is only 15 years old and has been compared to Kaka by the Arsenal academy coach Gustavo Oliveira, is currently unable to make his debut in the Premier League, despite the fact that he has been going through training with the first-team squad.
According to the regulations of the Premier League, a player who is placed in an age group that is lower than the under-16 level is not permitted to be named on the team sheet of a first-team club or to take part in a league match.
Dowman was selected to be a member of Arsenal’s under-15 squad prior to the start of the new season.
Nevertheless, the Daily Mail reports that the Gunners may have the opportunity to request special dispensation in order to make use of the highly-rated player given the circumstances that they are currently facing.
The article additionally states: “It not clear whether the Premier League would accept any application.”
Dowman, who turned 15 in December, has been playing a significant role for Arsenal’s under-18 team this season. He has even had the opportunity to come off the bench for Arsenal’s under-21 team.
When Mikel Arteta was speaking about the youngster in January, he was full of praise for him.
“[He is] very impressive,” the Spaniard said to the journalist Jordan Davies. “There are some things that he [Dowman] does that are beyond comprehension. There is a strong belief among us that we will be able to cultivate him into one of our own.
Arteta continued by saying, “There are a lot of restrictions for his age, so you will have to wait and see what happens.” The pace of his progress is quick.
