Teen sensations are meant to be one in a million so why does it feel as if prodigies are taking over? | Emma John

From Max Dowman to Kimi Antonelli, Sky Brown and Luke Littler, peak performance can be attained ever earlier thanks to support and science

Des Ryan lives on the west coast of Ireland and gets over to watch Arsenal only about three times a season. It was pure fluke that the director of sports and physical wellbeing at the University of Galway was at the Emirates Stadium last weekend, when Max Dowman became the youngest ever scorer in the Premier League. He admits to getting “quite emotional” – just a few years ago he was looking after Dowman in the under-12s.

“If you’re an academy specialist, then seeing the young people get their debuts, that’s your trophy,” says Ryan, who headed the Arsenal academy’s athletic development for nine years. He knows well that while Dowman’s abilities are uniquely precocious, his situation isn’t. Marli Salmon became Arsenal’s youngest defender when he made his senior debut at 16 in December, while Brando Bailey-Joseph replaced Gabriel Martinelli on the wing in a Champions League match in January, aged 17. As Ryan notes: “These older teenagers are playing adult sport, and excelling at it.”

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