Photo by Neal Simpson/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty Images
Photo by Neal Simpson/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty Images
There is so much hype around Max Dowman right now.
The 16-year-old scored a brace in his first senior start of the season as Arsenal brushed past Ipswich in the Carabao Cup. It was a performance that forced the teenager back into Mikel Arteta’s thinking in the Premier League.
Dowman replaced Bukayo Saka for the final 10 minutes during the thumping defeat at Brighton, making his first Premier League appearance since the final day of last season. What that means for Noni Madueke, who has only played one minute of league action since the opening night win against Coventry, remains to be seen. But Dowman is too good to leave out now, and Arteta knows it.
What we’re seeing from this kid is not normal. But former Tottenham and West Ham striker Jermain Defoe claims he played with someone who was even better at that age.
Jermain Defoe suggests Joe Cole was even better than Max Dowman at 15
When asked to weigh in on the current generation of teenage stars, speaking on The Warm-Up, Defoe mentioned Max Dowman, but claims Joe Cole was even better.
“Even now, with all the kids in the current academies, Mikey Moore comes close, then obviously you’ve got Max Dowman, but as a young 14, 15 year old, I’ve never seen anything like Joe Cole,” he said. “He was quicker with the ball than without. He was just amazing.”
Dowman is on a different level to Tottenham winger Mikey Moore, with all due respect. But Joe Cole did generate a similar level of hype that Dowman is getting before he had even kicked a ball for West Ham’s first team.
By the time Cole was 15, Sir Alex Ferguson wanted to sign him for Manchester United for around £10million — huge money in 1997. He signed an Adidas sponsorship deal at 14 that rivalled the boot contracts of senior Premier League stars. Again, this is something Dowman is experiencing too, with his Adidas boot deal.
Cole made his England debut at 19 and became West Ham’s club captain at 21, before joining Chelsea for £6.6million in 2003. Repeated injuries unfortunately derailed him somewhat, but he still went on to have a fantastic career.
However, with the talent Dowman has, the people around him, the club he is at and the manager he has, we anticipate him to surpass that. And if reports are to be believed, Dowman could be fast-tracked to the England senior team very soon, where he could even become the national team’s youngest debutant ever.