It’s becoming a frustrating season for Mikel Arteta, whose injury list at the Emirates Stadium continues to grow.
The Arsenal manager is now without a single available striker after Kai Havertz tore his hamstring during the Gunners’ warm-weather training trip to Dubai. With Gabriel Jesus already out along with wingers Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka, Arteta must now find an unorthodox solution.
Havertz and Jesus are expected to miss the rest of the season, while Martinelli and Saka could be sidelined for several fixtures as the season moves into the spring. Arsenal’s title challenge hangs in the balance.
Who could replace Kai Havertz for Arsenal?
Leandro Trossard seems the most likely candidate to play as a makeshift centre forward for Arsenal in the coming weeks. The former Brighton & Hove Albion man has played through the middle before and the Gunners can adapt their style to a false nine relatively easily.
One player who won’t be playing in place of Havertz and Jesus in the Premier League is 15-year-old Max Dowman. Dowman was part of Arsenal’s Dubai training camp and has been training with the first team for more than a year.
As noted by the Athletic, however, Dowman – ranked at no.47 in FourFourTwo's list of the most exciting teenagers to watch this season – won't be able to feature in the Premier League until next season.
FA rules state that an academy player under 16 can appear in an FA Cup fixture providing they've been correctly registered and can provide a letter of consent to a parent or guardian. In the Premier League, however, the rules are a little different.
No player below the under-16 age group can be named in a matchday squad. Dowman had to have been 15 by August 31, 2024, to be eligible to play at any stage this season – but he only turned 15 on New Year's Eve last year.
The earliest Dowman can debut in the Premier League will be August, by which point he will be several months older than Nwaneri when he made his debut in 2022.
The English forward played for Arsenal’s under-18s as a 13-year-old and is the youngest ever scorer in the UEFA Youth League. Comparisons to 2007 Ballon d’Or winner Kaka might not be all that helpful, but they are impressive.
Arsenal sit in second place in the Premier League table, seven points behind Liverpool, and will be without Havertz, Jesus, Saka, Martinelli and indeed Dowman in the early Saturday kick-off against Leicester City as Premier League action returns this weekend.
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