- Teen sensation made Gunners bow
- Won spot-kick but did not step up
- Rooney excited by obvious potential
The teen sensation became the Gunners’ second-youngest debutant when making his Premier League bow at Emirates Stadium aged 15 years and 234 days. He looked lively during a cameo off the bench against Leeds.
He won a penalty late on, with those in the stands urging Mikel Arteta to let the youngster step up to the spot. That never happened, with Swedish striker Viktor Gyokeres taking on that responsibility as he crashed home his second goal in a resounding 5-0 win.
Ex-England captain Rooney, who made his Everton debut at 16 in 2002, told his BBC podcast when discussing Dowman’s breakthrough: “To play at that age in the Premier League is crazy. I know I played when I was young, but I think he’s like 150 days younger than I was or more. It’s just refreshing to see a young lad get his opportunity, and, even though he’s playing for Arsenal, every time he cuts inside you go ‘shoot’. You want him to put it in the top corner.”
Rooney added on Dowman being overlooked for penalty-taking duty: “If he gets it and scores, it’s great, but I was thinking if he misses that’s the difference in being an absolute success story and… all of sudden you get everyone, not everyone, but online people having a go at him. So I was really pleased he didn’t, but it was such an impressive debut.”
Asked about his advice for Dowman, Rooney went on to say: “For Max and his family and friends, I’m sure they’re all living in a dream and a fairy tale and it probably hasn’t hit home yet. But you can see his future is so bright, he is going to have a massive future. Everyone you speak to in football, the same name keeps coming back: Max Dowman.
“It’s difficult for anyone. I think the first thing you’ve got to do is just stay around your family and close friends. Listen to them because there are going to be people out there who are trying to be your friend or trying to get in touch with you – some for good reasons, some for not so good reasons. You just have to make sure the people who are closer to you, you stay around them and listen to their advice rather than outsiders.”
Rooney went on to complete a record-setting transfer to Manchester United, becoming the all-time leading goalscorer across a memorable spell at Old Trafford. Dowman is hoping to make a similar impact at the highest level, but will see his development carefully managed in north London.
