The rise of Max Dowman at Arsenal has highlighted the promise coming from the Gunners' youth academy, and it looks as if the club could have another exciting talent coming through the system.

Mylo Bernard may be a name unknown to the majority of Arsenal supporters, but bagging a brace against local rivals Tottenham Hotspur shortly after arriving at the club is certainly a way to get noticed.

While it may be too soon to predict a Max Dowman-esque rise into the first team this season for the 16-year-old, Bernard is certainly a player who supporters would be right to be excited by.

Mylo Bernard bags brace against Tottenham Hotspur

Arsenal announced the signing of Bernard as part of the club's first-year scholarship intake for 2026/27 this summer. The teenager put pen to paper on a pre-contract agreement that will lead to him signing professional terms when he turns 17.

The forward arrived from Premier League rivals Crystal Palace after an outstanding 2025/26 campaign, which saw the player score more than 40 goals for the Eagles academy, playing above his age with the Under-18 side.

Bernard has also been called up by the England Under-16 team and netted four times in eight games for the Three Lions. Now at Arsenal, he still has his scoring boots on.

The talisman scored a brace against Spurs this weekend to help the Arsenal Under-18 outfit come from behind to win the derby. The youngster only made his debut as a substitute last month and was handed his first start against Tottenham.

Straight after Spurs took the lead, an Arsenal move saw the ball crossed into Bernard, who finished to score his first goal for the club. A second strike came in injury time, when Bernard saw a cannoned shot hit the back of the net off the crossbar to ensure the match finished at 2-1.

It was a head-turning performance on his first start, and a sign of what could be to come in both the short term and long term future at Arsenal. While at Crystal Palace, former academy teammate Lucca Benetton previously compared Bernard to Arsenal legend Thierry Henry following a hat-trick - before the player had even made the move to North London.

Mikel Arteta turns to youth academy

While Arsenal are not afraid to shell out the big money to sign renowned first team players, the club are also very proactive in investing in the future. The Gunners have already confirmed a deal to bring 16-year-old Ecuadorian twins Edwin and Holger Quintero to the Emirates Stadium in 2027, after securing youngsters Tommy Setford and Victor Ozhianvuna.

Speaking as Dowman broke into the first team last year, Arteta said:

“I love the trophies and I love working with young players, especially the ones that have been through our academy, our system and see them playing, because I think that is a dream for any football club.

“The first thing we do is, what do we have in the academy? Can we look at them? Can we promote them? Can we make them the lead players that we are going to need to win trophies? Do they have this mentality?

“You are never going to get it right unless you bring academy players [through] - and win trophies. If you don’t do those two things at the same time, you are never going to win."