Max Dowman's 16-YR Old Magic Takes Arsenal By Storm With Tiki-Taka Brilliance!
Premier League’s youngest scorer is a schoolboy not allowed in the men’s changing room
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. ‘Skipping past opponents with a ball at his feet’: Matt Dowman was first scouted at the age of four. | Credit: Justin Setterfield / Getty Images Max Dowman made football history on Saturday.
Running from his own half, he fired into an empty net to secure Arsenal a 2-0 win over Everton and become the youngest goalscorer in the Premier League. But afterwards, in the “ecstatic dressing room, the man of the match wasn’t there”, said Miguel Delaney in The Independent . That’s because Dowman “isn’t actually the man of the match”, but a child.
The midfielder, aged 16 years and 75 days, isn’t allowed in the same dressing room as the adults, and gets changed in his own space near the referees’ room. ‘Never left alone’ Dowman “probably cannot even remember a time when he was not skipping past opponents with a ball at his feet”, said Sam Dean in The Telegraph . There has been “a buzz” around his name for years.
He was scouted when he was just four; at 13, he became the youngest player to represent Arsenal’s under-18s; at 14, he was the youngest to play for their under-21s. He also played for the England under-17s at 14, and started training with Arsenal’s first team. Earlier this year, he became the youngest player in Champions League history and the youngest starter for Arsenal.