BBC Sport’s TV and radio commentators have picked two Arsenal players who will be worth watching out for in the next few months.
Cristhian Mosquera
Age: 21 Position: Centre-back Country: Spain
James Fielden: Mosquera looked largely untroubled throughout the Under-21s tournament in Slovakia.
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A front foot and aggressive defender when he needs to be, he was extremely confident stepping forward and helping in attack. With recovery pace to help in rare situations of Spanish panic, he sounds like Mikel Arteta’s kind of player.
Whether he can dislodge the established elite at Emirates Stadium is another matter, but Arsenal have had injury issues in the middle of defence, and he has only missed three games for Valencia over the last two seasons.
For a reported fee of £13m, he looks to be a low-risk and potentially high-reward acquisition.
Max Dowman
Age: 15 Position: Midfielder Country: England
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Ian Dennis: I can’t wait to see Arsenal’s Max Dowman in the flesh because the last time I heard such a buzz around a youngster was Wayne Rooney.
I speak to a lot of scouts, and I have heard rave reviews for a while about this ‘gifted’ attacking midfielder.
So much so, I spoke with Gunners midfielder Declan Rice about him last season, who at the time claimed, “Max is the best 15-year-old in the country”.
It was March when I sat down with Rice, who said at the time he had been inundated with great reviews about the teenager, explaining: “I’ve had so many texts about Max recently where people have watched him and are saying “wow, what a talent”.
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Dowman does not turn 16 until 31 December, but sounds the real deal.
James Fielden: Maybe not an original hot take that Dowman is going to be much talked about in years to come, but even having seen him play at the Uefa European Under-17 Championship this summer, you can see why he’ll cause teams no end of problems wherever he plays off the front line.
One of a growing number of English players who glide across the field with the grace that we have maybe not been used to seeing over the past couple of decades.
It will be interesting to see what Arteta has planned for him, firstly in terms of game time beyond the domestic cups and also the position in which he’ll be deployed.
Let’s hope he fulfils his potential and is managed carefully at domestic and international level.
