Arsenal would require special dispensation from the Premier League if they wanted teenage star Max Dowman to help ease their injury crisis.
The Gunners are currently short on attacking options after Kai Havertz injured his hamstring earlier this week.
The German is due to undergo surgery and, along with fellow striker Gabriel Jesus, will miss the rest of the season.
Arsenal are also without wingers Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli for at least another month due to hamstring injuries.
Despite being 15, Dowman has trained regularly with the first team and he was part of the club’s squad for their recent warm-weather training camp in Dubai.
The attacking midfielder, however, is not eligible to play for Arsenal in the Premier League as competition rules state that players in matchday squads cannot be from a lower age group than the Under-16s. Dowman was named in Arsenal’s U15 squad at the start of the season.
Arsenal could ask for special dispensation to play Dowman, but it is unclear if the Premier League would accept such a request.
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta praised Dowman during a press conference last month and explained then how he was not able to make his senior debut yet.
“Very impressive,” he said. “At his age as well, some of the things he does in training are unbelievable.
“He’s a player with huge talent and we have a lot of belief that we can develop him to become one of our own. He’s doing very well so far.
“At the moment with all the legislation there are a lot of restrictions for your age, something that in other countries you don’t even mention. We’ll have to wait and see.
“He’s taking very fast steps because every time you put him in a different challenge, a different level, he overcomes that hurdle really quickly which is great.”
