Mar 16, 2026, 08:55 AM
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Wayne Rooney praised Max Dowman's "aura and belief" after the 16-year-old became the Premier League's youngest ever goalscorer on Saturday evening.
Rooney, who infamously scored against Arsenal for Everton aged 16, a strike that saw him once hold the title of youngest goalscorer, said Dowman "has a lot of ability" but also warned that the Arsenal youngster might have to focus on his school over the coming weeks.
"He has got his GCSEs, and his education, I'm sure for him and his family, is important as well," Rooney said on The Wayne Rooney Show.
Max Dowman scored Arsenal's second to secure victory over Everton. Photo by Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images.
"What an opportunity for him to be around the squad. He could be a Premier League winner when he's still finishing school off.
"He's got an aura and a belief about him and it was the same against Everton. 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."
Looking back on his own volley against Arsenal from 2002, the former Everton and Manchester United striker believes the attention on Dowman will be different to what he faced.
"Now we're in social media," Rooney said. "People will be messaging, Instagram or Twitter, whatever he's got. And you'll be seeing it everywhere.
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"So I don't think he will have slept many hours [on Saturday night] because I'm sure he will have been up watching it. "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."
"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.
"Mikel Arteta, some of the senior players in the Arsenal squad, will not let him get ahead of himself. But I think you have to enjoy it as well."