Max Dowman Lights Up The Arsenal Show: Watch for Epic Thrills as He Embarks on New Adventures!
The 16-year-old’s ‘extraordinary’ football brain was on show as he produced a moment of magic in the win over Everton and made his case for inclusion in the England squad despite his tender years
As the Arsenal players got into an ecstatic dressing room, the man of the match wasn’t there. Goalscorer Viktor Gyokeres even came in carrying his award. That is all because Max Dowman isn’t actually the man of the match but the boy of the match, since he’s still… just a child.
Premier League rules mean he’s not actually allowed to change in the same dressing room as adults. He has to go around near the referees’ room. Maybe it also serves as another little way to keep a mere 16-year-old centred after such a moment, too, but nobody who knows the Dowmans says he needs that.
His parents are said to still ground him for misbehaving, and are conscious of keeping the obvious confidence that comes with such ability in check. They were of course among many people at Arsenal in tears after Dowman scored that crucial clinching goal against Everton. As was openly being said in the dressing room by many staff, they’d known him since he was small.
You might quip that wasn’t that long ago, but it also speaks to the speed of his development. And here he was, at 16 years and 73 days, becoming the youngest goalscorer in Premier League history. Mikel Arteta is often criticised for a conservatism, but he still went for football’s classic roll of the dice when it was really required: the impetuousness of youth.
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