By LUKE POWER, SPORTS REPORTER
Published: 14:48 EDT, 25 August 2025 | Updated: 14:48 EDT, 25 August 2025
Wayne Rooney's son has given an insight into what he noticed playing against Arsenal wonderkid Max Dowman.
Dowman, 15, came off the bench in Arsenal's 5-0 win over Leeds and lit up the Emirates, skinning defenders, almost scoring a screamer, and winning a penalty.
He started training with Mikel Arteta's first team aged 14 and shone on their pre-season tour of Asia.
Captain Martin Odegaard has urged patience with the youngster, who is in the middle of his GCSE studies, but Arsenal and England could have the next big thing on their hands if the right conditions come together.
Rooney's son, 15-year-old Kai, plays for Manchester United and has faced Dowman at youth level.
Father Wayne said on his self-titled BBC Sport show: 'We were watching the Arsenal game and Dowman comes and and Kai has played against him, and I said, "Is he your age?"
Arsenal's Max Dowman is clearly a 'top player' according to Wayne Rooney's son
Kai, who is also 15, has played against Dowman at youth level for Manchester United
Father Wayne said it is 'surreal' progressing from the youth team to first-team football
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'And he went, "Yeah." Kai is two months older than him!
'It's actually crazy that he's playing first-team football in the Premier League.
'He [Kai] just said, "You can clearly see he's a top player."
'And for any young player, you say, you work hard and put the effort in and you never know.
'Sometimes you could be playing under-15s and next time under-18s or Premier League.'
Reflecting on his own breakthrough at Everton - which came aged 16 in 2002 - Rooney highlighted the 'surreal' aspect of suddenly being alongside your heroes.
'It's surreal, it's so strange,' he said. 'One minute you're in the youth team and the next minute you're in the first-team dressing room, and for me, some of my heroes growing up, I'm in there playing with, training with, becoming friends with.
'I was down at Duncan Ferguson's house, he lived on the same road as me, just chilling with Alan Stubbs, and you're like, what is going on here? This is surreal.
'It's something you need to get used to very quickly because it can be overwhelming but Dowman looks level-headed and you hope he manages to deal with it and understands what's coming his way very soon.'
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