Max Dowman trained with the Arsenal first team again at London Colney ahead of the weekend's London derby against Chelsea.
The focus on Friday morning was understandably on Myles Lewis-Skelly after his call-up to the senior England squad alongside team-mate Declan Rice, with Bukayo Saka not yet recovered from hamstring surgery. However, there was also a promotion for Ethan Nwaneri to the under-21s squad, which Lee Carsley is again in charge of.
Lewis-Skelly and Nwaneri had previously been regulars for the under-19s. Dowman, though, was the fourth England international in the group as a regular for the under-17s over the last six months.
Despite only turning 15 on New Year's Eve, the midfielder is now a fully-fledged part of Arsenal's under-18s, even captaining the team on Tuesday when they won 3-2 against Chelsea at Cobham. That was his 15th under-18s appearance of the season across all competitions, having also made a cameo at under-21 level at the start of December.
However, there will be no first-team debut for Dowman this season. Players must be at least 15 as of 31 August to play in the Premier League at any point during the campaign, with the midfielder falling four months short.
The rules also state that players involved in matchday squads cannot come from an age group beneath the under-16s. Arsenal registered Dowman in their under-15s squad for the start of this season.
Mikel Arteta acknowledged the challenges of these regulations in mid-February. "It's clear the rules on age and restrictions at the moment and very difficult to change that as well," the Arsenal head coach said.
However, Dowman will likely be able to play next season. That is because he has already turned 15 and, assumedly, will at least be registered as an under-16s player sometime this summer before the next campaign begins.
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