Arsenal star Max Dowman ready to follow in footsteps of Wayne Rooney and Jude Bellingham

It was an iconic piece of commentary to celebrate a superstar in the making.

“Remember the name: Wayne Rooney,” screamed TV legend Clive Tyldesley after the former Everton whizz kid scored a wonder goal on October 19, 2002, five days before his 17th birthday.

We may soon have a new name on our lips. Arsenal teenager Max Dowman does not turn 16 until December 31 and is set to write his own name into the record books in this Premier League season.

The Essex lad has been training with the first team for nearly two years, Declan Rice described him as “the best 15-year-old in the country” and an Arsenal academy coach, Gustavo Oliveira, likened him to Brazil legend Kaka.

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Dowman starred in the club’s pre-season tour of Asia, is still at school and has to get special permission to get time off to join training. He got time off from lessons to join the senior stars on the mid-season break in Dubai last February.

Dowman played for England’s under-17s in the Euros this summer and became the competition’s youngest ever scorer. Despite playing THREE YEARS above his age group, he scored 19 goals and provided five assists in 23 games for the under-18s last season.

Now Dowman is eligible, ready and will be part of the first team squad. He was in the travelling party for the season-opener at Manchester United on Sunday to give him experience, even though he was not named as one of the substitutes.

There will be no holding him back. He is an attacking midfielder who scores goals, dribbles and runs with the ball as if he is gliding across the pitch. Even if he does not play every week, you can bet there will be a special moment or goal this season.

If Rooney was the Premier League’s original generational talent and Jude Bellingham was a teen global superstar, then Dowman has got the same mind-blowing potential.

Arsenal legend Lee Dixon even admitted he would normally be reluctant to talk up a teenager - but says Dowman is an “exceptional talent” even amid the club’s other teen talents like Ethan Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelly.

Dixon told betting firm 10bet: “Normally at this point when we talk about a kid like that, I kind of back off a little bit and I say just let him develop. Don't put any pressure on him. Often for young kids, you need to take stuff away from them rather than add more, but this kid is super special.

“That’s not to say Nwaneri or Myles Lewis-Skelly aren’t, but this kid has got something that you can’t put your finger on. He blows you away when he does his stuff. I’m reluctant to build him up because he doesn’t need building up.

“You just watch his show reel, watch him when he comes on. His ability on the ball, wow. We’ve been waiting for him for a long time, and Mikel said that every club in the world knows him.

“We’ve got an absolute gem on our hands and if you’re good enough, you’re old enough. He’s already shown what he can do. Had he struggled a bit in pre-season, you’d back off, thinking it’s a bit early. But he’s shown that he is ready. He is an exceptional talent.”

Arsenal now find themselves with almost an embarrassment of riches. From a position of struggling to get youngsters through, they now have arguably the best in the country. Teenagers Marli Salmon and Andre Harriman-Annous could be next.

Lewis-Skelly became England’s youngest player to score on their debut - aged 18 years and 176 days - last March. Nwaneri is the youngest player in Premier League history after making his debut aged 15 years and 181 days in 2022.

Nwaneri is having to be patient in his progress. Borussia Dortmund pushed hard to sign him and were the most likely club - well ahead of Chelsea and others - to tempt him away. Instead, Nwaneri committed himself to a mega contract to stay at Arsenal.

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta will have to find a way to give him game time. But in Dowman’s case, it may be more of a challenge just to hold him back.

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