Max Dowman Wins Carabao Cup Player Of The Round At 16 Years-Old

Max Dowman has been named as the Carabao Cup Player Of The Round for round three, and has become the youngest ever player to win the award at 16 years and 285 days old.

The young teenage star, who has recently been tipped as one of the top ten under-21 'Rising Stars' by Lionel Messi in a recent Adidas Football advert, started and scored a brace as Arsenal defeated fellow Premier League opposition Ipswich Town 4-2 at Portman Road. 

Dowman started the game and played the full 90 minutes in the fixture. These remain his only noticeable senior minutes of the season so far, with a short cameo in the defeat to Brighton last month as his only other minutes for Mikel Arteta’s side. 

Dowman took both goals extremely well in the tie in Suffolk. After receiving the ball from Eberechi Eze, he drove at the heart of the Tractor Boys’ defence, gliding past defenders with ease before slotting a right-footed shot into the bottom left corner past Christian Walton in the Ipswich Town net. He also showed great composure and maturity beyond his years for the second goal, opening up his body to curl a left footed shot in the far corner to double his goal tally on the night. 

Dowman went on to win Player Of The Match for his performance. 

The teenage superstar has quickly risen to stardom in the last year or so. After some stellar performances against Newcastle and Villarreal in pre-season in 2025, Arsenal fans were beginning to get a glimpse of just how talented he was. 

The teenage sensation went on to play 477 minutes in all competitions for the Arsenal first-team last campaign, setting a handful of records along the way. Most noticeably, the Essex-born wonderkid became the youngest ever Premier League goalscorer, scoring an incredible solo effort in Arsenal’s 2-0 victory over Everton in the run-in of the title-winning season. He also became the youngest player in Champions League history when coming off the bench to feature at Slavia Prague.

Despite the limited minutes Dowman has had in the first team so far this season, there is no doubt he will get his opportunities yet again and be an influential part of the squad who are looking to retain their status as Premier League champions, as well as going as far as possible in the Champions League, FA Cup and the Carabao Cup. There is plenty of football to be played and with Arsenal looking to ‘attack all four competitions,’ Arteta will be keen to integrate the 16 year-old in manageable doses. 

With the Gunners set to play League Two side Fleetwood Town in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup later this month, the fixture presents a brilliant opportunity for him to gain some more priceless minutes in first team football as he continues his young career.