England manager Thomas Tuchel says he has not ruled out taking Arsenal wonderkid Max Dowman to the World Cup.
Sixteen-year-old Dowman was not included in the huge 35-man squad Tuchel unveiled on Friday for the forthcoming friendlies against Uruguay and Japan at Wembley.
But the England boss says he will not close the door on including Dowman for the World Cup in America if he accelerates his rapid progress at Arsenal between now and the summer.
‘I keep the door open for anyone with any age,’ Tuchel said at Wembley. ‘Why would I rule it out? Of course it’s impressive what he’s doing. It’s impressive the feedback I get from players and people who know him. So we will have a look at it and take the last decision when we build the squad in May.’
Dowman is yet to make a Premier League start for Arsenal but announced himself to the wider world with a stunning solo goal as a substitute against Everton last weekend.
Max Dowman became the youngest scorer in Premier League history against Everton
He remains an outlier for the World Cup but Tuchel suggested he could push for a place if Mikel Arteta decides to give him more minutes as Arsenal hunt four trophies between now and the end of the season.
‘It’s very young, yeah,’ said Tuchel.
‘There are arguments that it’s too young but why open all these arguments now?
‘Let him fight for his minutes.
‘At the moment he’s not a regular starter, you could argue you should be maybe a starter at your club to be considered…’
With Spanish superstar Lamine Yamal already a European Championship winner at the age of 18, there is a precedent for Dowman to follow this summer.
‘There’s also the risk to compare him to Lamine Yamal or Lionel Messi and so on,’ added Tuchel. ‘Had Yamal played more minutes for his club before he played for his country? I would say so, yeah.
‘But this is exactly the danger and the risk is that it becomes a crazy hype that does in the end not help. I feel almost parental responsibility about it. So we have to be careful and responsible.
‘I know that it’s difficult because he puts himself up there with all this quality. I hear he has the best surroundings around him and the best support system around him.
‘He is in a good club where teamwork is rule No1. So these are all good signs but yeah I would prefer not to talk too much about him because I feel it just doesn’t help.’
Thomas Tuchel has unexpectedly picked a 35-man squad, which he plans to split into two
Tuchel’s decision to choose an England squad with 35 names in it was met with surprise this lunchtime and has never been done before.
The England manager revealed that the squad will essentially be split into two for the games at the back end of the month.
For the first game against Uruguay next Friday, Tuchel and his staff will work with a group of nineteen players and four goalkeepers.
Senior players Dean Henderson, Dan Burn, Marc Guehi, Ezri Konsa, Nico O’Reilly, Elliot Anderson, Declan Rice, Morgan Rogers, Anthony Gordon, Harry Kane and Bukayo Saka will not join the group until the morning after that game and will then come in to consideration for the fixture with Japan.
Nine or ten outfield players will then leave camp and they are likely to include some of today’s new inclusions such as Harry Maguire, Kobbie Mainoo and Everton’s James Garner.
Tuchel said last night they already know who they are but suggested his plans could change if players impress him.
Meanwhile, there is no place in the wider squad for Trent Alexander-Arnold or Luke Shaw, which appears to rule them out of contention for the summer.
Tuchel admitted that Manchester United defender Shaw was ‘upset’ but then admitted he had not spoken to Real Madrid defender Alexander-Arnold.
‘Not yet,’ he told talkSPORT.
