The headline may have been the 4-1 scoreline, but the real story was the 16-year-old who treated a senior pre-season friendly like his own private stage. Max Dowman came on, set up Kai Havertz for Arsenal's opener in the 16th minute, then scored himself in the 53rd. That is not a bad night's work by any standard, let alone for a player still only 16.
Arsenal did not arrive in Montilivi with a full-strength attack, either. Mikel Arteta's side were missing five of the seven attackers who featured in their Champions League final defeat to Paris Saint-Germain, and this was a make-shift line-up filled with academy products after several changes. That matters. It means the result was useful, but the wider message was even better: Arsenal still found a way to look dangerous, even without the usual collection of senior names.
Dowman stole the show
Dowman made the first goal look easy. Three minutes after the opener, Christos Tzolis levelled for Girona with his debut goal, only for Arsenal to take control again after the break. Arnau Martinez scored for Girona from a corner in the 50th minute, but Arsenal's response was immediate and brutal.
Dowman struck again soon after, Gabriel Jesus added the fourth, and suddenly the friendly had become a reminder that Arsenal's attacking depth is not just about the established stars. When a 16-year-old produces a goal and an assist in a game like this, you are no longer talking about a novelty. You are talking about a player who has already started to force the conversation.
Of course, it would be reckless to turn a pre-season friendly into a full-scale verdict on the future. That would be ridiculous. But it would be just as foolish to shrug this off entirely. Players do not accidentally create and finish chances at this level unless there is something real there.
Arsenal still had control without the usual names
The other encouraging part for Arsenal is that the performance did not depend on one senior attacking star dragging them through the game. Riccardo Calafiori, Lewis-Skelly and the rest of the reshuffled group helped keep the structure in place while the academy players injected energy and ambition.
That is exactly what pre-season is for: testing the edges, giving young players responsibility and seeing who looks capable of handling more than a cameo. Dowman answered that question with a very loud yes. Arsenal's next fixture comes on August 5 against Real Betis in Dublin, and that will offer another chance to see whether this momentum carries over.
For now, though, the message is simple. Arsenal won 4-1, but the most striking part was not the margin. It was the teenager who made the whole thing feel a little less like a warm-up and a little more like a warning.
