Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta has heaped praise on 16-year-old prodigy Max Dowman but has said that the club must take care of him as his star continues to rise.
The teenager scored two goals in Arsenal's third-round Carabao Cup tie with Ipswich Town on Tuesday and joined Wayne Rooney as the only 16-year-olds in history to score multiple goals in a game for a top-flight club.
When asked if Dowman could play regularly in the Premier League at his young age, Arteta said:
"Everything is possible. The probability probably is extremely low, because you don't see the players with the capacity to handle just the physicality of the game.
"Not only that, but the demands that you have to put your bodies through in the week to be able to be in a good condition to compete, the amount of information, the challenges that you have to face.
"But he's doing it, and he's doing it really well every time he's got a chance."
While Arteta seemed confident that Dowman can play a role in the Gunners' campaign to defend their Premier League title, he also urged caution and emphasised the importance of not rushing his development and keeping him grounded.
"What we have to do is look after him -- he's 16-years-old, you don't see that in this league. In other leagues in Europe, that's a totally different context," Arteta said.
"But in this league, with the demands that the league, the players and everything puts on you, we really need to make sure every time we throw him in, he's in the right context with the right preparation, and that's what we are trying to do.
"We're going to make sure that when we just throw him there, he's ready to handle that at every level, and it's not just that he can run past somebody. There's a lot more things that we need to look after him...the only thing that we have to manage is that he needs to constantly be aware that he needs to be prepared for what he needs to do."
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Arteta also laid out the things that he wants Dowman to improve on if he is to hold a truly prominent role within the Arsenal team.
"His leadership has to increase, his voice has to increase, his role has to increase within the team, in the dressing room. There are a lot of things that you need to grow, but at 16, to already do what he does, it's just incredible."
Dowman's brace, along with goals from Noni Madueke and Mikel Merino sealed Arsenal's sixth straight win across all competitions. As the Gunners plan to compete on all fronts this season, Dowman may well feature plenty more.