“Unbelievable,” Max Douman has the “right attitude” to succeed in the Arsenal first team under Mikel Arteta, says teammate Mikel Merino.

The teenager made a fleeting appearance in friendly matches, but even with a few minutes limited, he was impressed with the players from a few years ago, and with his seniors.

Playing as an offensive midfielder, the English Academy star praises not only his skills and dribbling ability, but also his courage, confidence and dynamism that he believes in his gentle years.

“Yeah, he’s fine,” the Spaniard told TNT Sports. “I mean, it’s amazing that he was doing at 3pm.

“It’s not easy to see a 15-year-old doing everything to a grown man.”

Merino considers Arsenal to be the perfect club to develop Dowman, and will make a breakthrough to the first team, pointing out examples of other young talent at the club’s Hale End Academy.

Following in Bukayo Saka’s footsteps, things like Ethan Nwaneri and Miles Lewis Skelly have moved to senior football in recent seasons, with Merino thinking Douman being ready to go the same path.

“The good thing is that he has the right vibe around him,” Merino said. “This is very important at this club. Not only he, but all the other players who are approaching the first team are doing really good things.

“It’s not only thanks to his qualities and talent, but it’s also the atmosphere that generates around the club, the way the academy prepares them, and how the first team challenges them to get better.”

Merino also warned that there is a need to exercise patience when it comes to developing players, noting that while the tools and talent are clear, there is still work to learn.

“Max is certainly an incredible player, but he’s only 15,” the Spaniard said. “So obviously, he has a lot to learn, a lot to improve, and I think he has the right attitude to do it.

“He needs to learn, open his ears and want to hear what Gaffer says, what other players say, but obviously he’s an incredible talent like many of the players in the academy.

Amidst the crippling injury crisis last season, Arsenal had several options left in the area ahead, so gunner boss Mikel Arteta became creative in the team’s setup.

This has led to Merino, the midfielder of trade, saying he will be deployed ahead of the center.

Surprisingly, Merino admitted that he had never played in such an advanced role before, explaining how he offered an interesting transition to British football following his transition from Real Sociedad the previous summer.

He continued: “Last year was a huge year. It was a very good thing on a personal level and even in a strange position for me, I was a striker I’ve never played before.

“I learned a lot from these new tactics that Mikel wants to implement, not only playing and adapting to the league.

“They were all new to me. I think I have a better understanding of what’s going on right now.”

With his previous advance, Merino said it seemed like a “joke” before he realized he could adapt to the position.

“Yeah, I mean, that was a bit funny at first,” he said. “When I first played against Leicester when I came, I was laughing because Gaffer said I was playing in advance, and I was saying DEC (Rice) ‘I’m playing a striker.’

“It seemed like a joke, but as the game went on, I started scoring goals, and I felt comfortable there.

“I think I like to understand not only what I have to do in my position, but what other positions have to do to influence the happiness of the whole team, but what is happening on the pitch.

“So, yeah, I understood what the role of a striker needs and tried to do it to my qualities.

“I know I’m not going to be sprinting faster than anyone else, but I know I can be a threat in the box. I know I can link in the middle. I was using my tools and it really got better.”

Merino said he will play wherever the manager needs him, except for one position, whether he will be asked to fill out elsewhere on the future pitch.

“That’s a question for Gaffer,” he said. “But obviously I’m open to it. I like to play anywhere on the pitch, so if he wants me to play centre-back, full-back, what he needs.

“Maybe he’s not a goalkeeper, but I’ll do my best.”