Arsenal‘s 2-0 win over Everton prior to the Carabao Cup final defeat had supporters believing that, alright, this could well be our year.
Fans have been rather pessimistic about their chances this term despite leading the Premier League for the vast majority of the season.
Yet, as Max Dowman danced past two Everton players, ran 60-odd yards and then fired the ball into an empty net, it felt like a crowning moment.
A decisive moment in this term’s title race was delivered by a 16-year-old. A teenager who became the youngest goalscorer in Premier League history as a result. Fans will always remember where they were when Dowman scored his first Arsenal goal.
|
Youngest PL scorers |
|
|---|---|
|
Player |
Age |
|
Max Dowman (Arsenal) |
16 years, 73 days |
|
James Vaughan (Everton) |
16 years, 270 days |
|
James Milner (Leeds) |
16 years, 356 days |
|
Wayne Rooney (Everton) |
16 years, 360 days |
|
Rio Ngumoha (Liverpool) |
16 years, 361 days |
|
Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal) |
17 years, 113 days |
|
Michael Owen (Liverpool) |
17 years, 143 days |
Alas, the youngster will not just be able to walk into the team, however much potential he has. That’s because this squad is packed with quality everywhere you look.
Arsenal could sign Max Dowman rival
If last summer was about signing a swanky new striker, Andrea Berta’s task this time around is to simply bolster the forward line altogether.
While Arsenal’s defence has been one of the best in Europe, they have floundered slightly at times in the attacking third of the pitch, where a number of players have been below par in recent times.
Leandro Trossard has not scored a single goal in 2026, Bukayo Saka has found the net just twice since early December and Gabriel Martinelli has just one league goal all season in 25 appearances. Martin Odegaard has only scored once during an injury-hit campaign too.
As a result, the likes of Anthony Gordon and PSG’s Kvicha Kvaratskhelia have been targeted. However, they seem rather unattainable and would cost the earth.
Brahim Diaz, on the other hand, would not. According to reports from Sports Boom this week, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur are two ‘serious’ candidates to sign the Real Madrid forward.
Brentford and Crystal Palace have lodged enquiries to sign the Morocco international – who infamously missed a penalty in the AFCON final – but it’s the Gunners who are said to be preparing to lodge a £30m bid.
That said, Madrid only plan to open negotiations and explore a sale if they receive a bid of around £39m.
What Brahim Diaz could offer Arsenal
Once of Manchester City, Diaz has been around the houses en route to Real Madrid fame but there is a sense now that he needs to leave in order to get regular first-team football, something he achieved at AC Milan.
During his time in Italy, the attacker really came alive, subsequently hailed as an “astonishing” player by Italian football expert Mina Rzouki.
His best season in Milan came in 2022/23 when he scored seven goals and registered eight assists in 45 appearances, before he really elevated his level during his first year in Madrid.
In 2023/24, Diaz helped himself to 12 goals and eight assists but has found it challenging to get regular minutes at the Bernabeu since.
The Spanish-born playmaker has started just six games in LaLiga this term and only started 16 times in 2024/25. That said, with regular football at AFCON, he showed just what he can do with Morocco.
Diaz ended the competition as the top scorer, firing home five goals in five successive matches between the group stages and the quarter-final win over Cameroon.
Undeniably one of the best players in African football, the 26-year-old would prove to be a mighty fine squad player but it doesn’t particularly bode well for Dowman or Ethan Nwaneri.
|
Brahim Diaz – AFCON stats |
|
|---|---|
|
Games |
7 |
|
Goals |
5 |
|
Assists |
0 |
|
Shots per game |
2.7 |
|
Key passes per game |
0.7 |
|
Dribbles per game |
1.3 |
|
Fouled per game |
2.9 |
|
Pass success rate |
87.2% |
Nwaneri enjoyed a breakthrough campaign with the Gunners last term but was soon cast aside last summer when Eberechi Eze and Noni Madueke were added to the group.
The teenager’s hopes of kicking on were dampened and he ultimately moved on loan to Marseille back in January in search of regular first-team football.
While Dowman has burst onto the scene in perhaps even greater style, the arrival of Diaz, a similar player truth be told, would not be ideal.
Yes, the 16-year-old superstar has a bucket load of time to make his name in the game but the Real Madrid star plays in very similar roles, whether it be in the centre behind the striker or on the right wing.
They bring similar qualities too: a fleet-footed ability with incredible dribbling and the ability to manipulate the ball in tight spaces.
Indeed, in LaLiga this season, no player has won more penalties per 90 minutes than Diaz, while he also ranks inside the top 7% of positionally similar players for chances created per 90 and the top 12% for fouls won. Dowman is cut from a similar cloth, particularly with regard to that final metric.
So, while the young English talent could ultimately learn a thing or two from the Madrid sensation, signing another attacking midfielder or right winger would undoubtedly hurt his game time in the short-term.
For now, Arsenal should be focusing their efforts on finding someone who can play off the left flank.
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