Wilshere Admits His Father Believes Max Dowman Is More Talented Than He Was

Jack Wilshere has revealed that even his father believes Arsenal youngster Max Dowman is more talented than he was at the same age.

Dowman, 16, has already made a big impression at Arsenal after breaking several age-related records and making 13 first-team appearances during his breakthrough campaign last season.

Wilshere, who came through Arsenal's academy himself, recalled seeing Dowman play for his Under-18 side when the midfielder was just 13.

"Max played for my 18s team when he was 13," Wilshere told BBC Sport. "I remember calling my dad because I played for the 18s when I was 14. I was like, 'was 13 too young?'"

Wilshere said he quickly realised Dowman was ready to compete against much older players and invited his father to watch him.

"In the first game we could clearly see that he was ready for it," Wilshere added. "And I remember calling my dad and saying, 'you need to come watch this kid'. My dad did, and my dad's very biased, as you could imagine. But even he said, 'he's better than you'."

Dowman's rise has continued since then. The teenager became the youngest Premier League winner, the youngest player to appear in the Champions League and Arsenal's youngest-ever starter.

He has also continued to impress this season, including a two-goal performance against Ipswich Town in the Carabao Cup.

Wilshere, who is now working as a coach, also explained how Mikel Arteta influenced his own development after he began working with Arsenal's youth teams.

"I got to see Mikel and how he coached and the influence he was having," the Luton Town head coach said. "I would ask him questions, why he's doing certain things, and I started to fall in love with it and how he started to prepare training sessions."

Wilshere admitted that learning from Arteta forced him to understand the coaching side of football in greater depth.

"I was influenced by Mikel, but then I had to learn how to teach. I had to learn how to get that across, how to plan a session and how to get the outcomes that you wanted," he added.

"I played under some good coaches and was quite good at understanding what a coach wants, but I never dived into 'why is he asking me to do that?' Mikel really made that clear and I was lucky enough to have a relationship where I could say, 'well, why do you want that?' And he was open enough to share it with me."

With Dowman continuing to develop at senior level, Arsenal are also considering whether a loan move could give the teenager more regular first-team football.

The 16-year-old has already shown he can handle opportunities with the senior side, but further competitive minutes could now form part of the club's plans for his development.