Wilshere's dad's brutal five-word comment to Arsenal icon after watching Dowman

After going on to make 197 appearances for Arsenal, scoring 14 goals along the way and helping win two major trophies, Wilshere left the Emirates Stadium in 2018, before retiring from professional football four years later.

Wilshere has since gone into football management, taking charge of Arsenal’s Under-18s in one of his first jobs, and has since taken charge of Norwich City and Luton Town.

It was during his time as Arsenal’s Under-18s boss that he was impressed by Dowman, who broke into the Gunners’ youth team when he was 13 years old.

Wilshere has now recalled how he told his dad to watch Dowman in action during his time with Arsenal’s academy, and what he said about the talented teenager.

“Yeah, he’s [Dowman] a good player. He played for my 18s team when he was 13,” Wilshere said in an interview with BBC Sport.

He added: “I played for the [Under] 18s when I was 14, 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, ‘Yeah, he’s better than you.’”

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Dowman has become a regular member of Arsenal’s senior squad, having been promoted to the first-team picture by manager Mikel Arteta.

The 16-year-old has already made two appearances for Arsenal this season, one of which came in the Carabao Cup win over Ipswich Town, where he scored two goals in the 4-2 victory at Portman Road.

Dowman has only featured in one Premier League match so far this season for Arsenal, where he made a late cameo from the bench in the 3-0 defeat to Brighton before the extended international break got underway.

It remains to be seen when Dowman will next feature for Arsenal’s first team, with the Gunners taking on Leeds United on October 10 in the Premier League in their first match after the international hiatus comes to an end.