Wayne Rooney has praised a young footie star named the youngest goalscorer in Premier League’s history after a thrilling last-minute goal for Arsenal last Saturday.
The 16-years-old secured a 2-0 win for his Islington club in a moment which will be written into the team’s history books.
Rooney, who also made his Premier League debut aged 16, said of Dowman: “He could be a Premier League winner when he’s still finishing school. He’s got an aura and a belief about him.”
At just 16 years and 73 days old, the young winger smashed the previous record set by James Vaughn in 2005, who scored during his debut against Crystal Palace aged 16 years and 270 days old.
Dowman, who is due to sit his GCSEs this summer, has already become the youngest player to appear in the Champions League as well as the youngest goalscorer for England’s under-19s team.
He is now being touted for his potential to become the Three Lions’ youngest ever player to be capped.
Born in Chelmsford, Dowman began his footie career at Billericay Town, the club both his father and grandfather had played for, before making the move to Arsenal aged eight.
Speaking on his podcast, Rooney cautioned against the demands of professional football at such a young age, saying: “If it’s education first, I don’t think we’ll see much of him over the next few weeks.
“He won’t be in as much as he’d probably like, but then you’ve got many years ahead of you.
“It’s different now, a different age when I was coming through. There was no social media at that time.
“So it was all about the newspapers and whether you liked it or not – front page and back page. I think the scrutiny’s not on you as much maybe these days.”
Rooney also praised his playing style, saying: “He seems, from the games I’ve watched, to not let that pressure affect him because he gets the ball, he holds on to it, he commits defenders, he goes to take them on, and so he definitely looks like he’s got a confidence about him.”
Dowman has avoided the media spotlight following Saturday. Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said: “For him, everything is natural, for him, everything is okay. It’s the way he plays and that’s the secret, that he doesn’t make a big fuss of it.
“Sometimes people think that enjoying success is arrogant and I just think they do it in the [USA]. They enjoy it and celebrate it.
“When we’ve got a young lad like that coming through as a 16-year-old, he’s clearly got a lot of ability, and you just hope he can go and fulfil that potential.
“Let him enjoy it and go and express himself.”
Odhran Gallagher is an MA Newspaper Journalism student at City St George's, University of London.