How Arsenal are supporting teenage superstar Dowman

Dowman was born on 31 December 2009

Max Dowman continues to break records as the exciting youngster makes his mark during his breakout season in the Arsenal first team.

Dowman - aged 15 years and 308 days - became the youngest player to appear in the Champions League when he featured for the Gunners in their 3-0 win over Slavia Prague.

He was already the second-youngest player to play for the club and second-youngest to play in the Premier League - records held by team-mate Ethan Nwaneri.

Dowman replaced Leandro Trossard in the 71st minute of Tuesday's game - immediately drawing a foul as he attempted a dribble.

Manager Mikel Arteta said "you cannot teach" the "personality and courage" the youngster has.

Dowman's talent and rise are no shock to anyone who has been around Arsenal for the past couple of years - he has been training with the first-team squad since he was 14.

But having a player with so much promise competing in senior football means Arsenal have had to put measures in place both for his career progression and his safeguarding.

These include where he gets changed, a strong focus on his education, and also making sure that a boy in an adult team environment is well supported by his team-mates.

Arteta and the club have been cautious about how they manage Dowman.

They have been gathering information about how he reacts to certain situations, whether that is being on the bench, training with the first team or not being named in the squad at all.

One of the first big signs of Dowman's integration was him being taken on the first team's warm-weather training camp to Dubai in January aged just 14.

During the second half of the campaign, there were calls from supporters for him to be used when Arteta's squad was affected by injuries.

Setting records is not unusual for Dowman. He played for England at the European Under-17 Championship in May, becoming the competition's youngest scorer when he netted in a win over the Czech Republic.

The Arsenal squad have a security team around them when they travel to games and arrive at Emirates Stadium.

One of the security team is assigned to stay close to Dowman at all times and could be seen next to him at Old Trafford when the teenager was in the travelling squad for the match against Manchester United but did not make the matchday 20.

Because of his age, Dowman has to get changed in a separate room to his team-mates before training sessions and on matchdays, but is able to go into the changing room when team-talks are done by Arteta and the coaching staff.

The players have separate rooms in hotels on away days, so travelling is not an issue.

Dowman entered Year 11 in September - a key time for 15-year-olds as they will sit their GCSEs at the end of the year.

Players completing their education is extremely important to Arsenal, and Per Mertesacker - a former Gunners player and now academy manager - is the driving force behind that.

Dowman has built-in study time at the training ground to ensure his education does not suffer while he continues his development as a player.

Declan Rice, who is part of the leadership group at Arsenal and has captained West Ham and England, has been pictured next to Dowman when the team have been travelling.

Rice is one of the players selected as a mentor to the youngster because, having started his own journey at a young age, he is viewed as an ideal candidate to give advice.

Dowman's age group in the Premier League are known as scholars, and tend to earn less than £10,000 a year on their scholarship. Because of Fifa rules, they cannot sign professional contracts until the age of 17.

Whatever happens then, Dowman has already taken huge steps in his development, and Arsenal are making sure they support him every step of the way.