Thomas Tuchel has said he did not call up Max Dowman to his latest England squad to avoid “increasing the pressure” on the 16-year-old — but then hinted he could still go to the World Cup.
Aged just 16 years and 73 days, Arsenal midfielder Dowman became the youngest goalscorer in Premier League history when netting against Everton last weekend.
It was just his seventh senior appearance — and third in the Premier League — but Gunners boss Mikel Arteta has admitted Dowman’s stunning impact is “not normal” and praised the teenager as one of the finest young talents he has worked with.
Dowman has represented England at Under-19 level and while Tuchel opted to leave him out of his 35-man squad for this month’s friendlies against Uruguay and Japan, he left the door open for what would be a remarkable call-up for this summer’s finals.
“He put himself in the spotlight with this amazing goal against Everton,” Tuchel said. “I think he is at the moment, obviously a fantastic talent and an outstanding talent. At this age, there cannot be a doubt about it.
“Everyone who tells me about Max, praises him and is full of compliments. The reality is at the moment he competes for minutes. He is not a regular starter for Arsenal.
“I think he is in a fantastic environment, the best possible: in a competitive club, a stable club, a club where teamwork is the number one rule. This is how they play, how they function. He learns from the very best environment.
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“With these young guys, of course we know all these players. We see them as you do as well. At the moment I think he is in a good place to fight for his minutes at Arsenal. We always have the chance to call him maybe up for the World Cup.
“The thing with young players to keep the momentum maybe going, keep their excitement. They have a level of fearlessness with them. There is no need to call him up now and increase the pressure and increase all the noise that comes with it but we have all options.”