Ferdinand picks shock Arsenal star as ‘massively key’ in title race – ‘It’s crazy’ | OneFootball

Rio Ferdinand has picked out a “special” Arsenal star as “massively key” for Mikel Arteta in what remains of the season.

The Gunners followed up the disappointment of losing the Carabao Cup final to Manchester City with a humbling defeat to Southampton in the FA Cup to leave them fighting on two fronts.

They sit nine points clear at the top of the Premier League with seven games to go, albeit with second-placed City having a game in hand, and will welcome Sporting to the Emirates on Wednesday after securing a 1-0 win away from home thanks to a late Kai Havertz goal this week.

Recent weeks have seen Arsenal struggle to create an abundance of chances, with victories increasingly reliant upon their outstanding defence and goalkeeper.

And Ferdinand reckons 16-year-old Max Dowman, who scored a dramatic late goal for the Gunners against Everton in their last Premier League fixture and became the youngest player ever to appear in a Champions League quarter-final on Tuesday, could make the difference for Arteta’s side in the run-in.

“He could be the key to Mikel Arteta getting Arsenal over the line, I think he’s that good,” Ferdinand said on his YouTube channel.

“He’s not got the mental scars that the other players have because of what they’ve gone through in previous seasons.

“You might need someone like him to lean on and tell him to be fearless and help us through it without giving him too much responsibility.

“He could be a massive key for Arsenal in that sense.”

Asked about the impact Dowman can have for club and country over the next few months, Ferdinand added: “I think he has to go [to the World Cup]. I think he’s special.

“He’s doing the same thing he did through every age group in the Premier League against grown men. He’s been doing the same thing in training against Arsenal players who are top of the Premier League.

“Even the players there are going ‘wow’, even the manager is saying he’s not seen anything like this from a player so young. It’s crazy.

“Those talents have to go – Michael Owen went to the World Cup young and blew up the whole world. You have to give these talents the experience and even if he went there and didn’t play it would be useful for him to get used to the environment and playing at a tournament.

“That would be hugely valuable; we’ve seen players do that before and benefit from it. I didn’t play a minute at the 1998 World Cup but that experience really helped at the 2002 tournament.

“I would love to see him go – it would be so exciting for English football. I would 100% take him – look at Spain with Lamine Yamal, I’m not comparing them but they saw a special talent and took him and then he blew everyone’s socks off.”