Tuchel not ruling out World Cup spot for Arsenal teenager Dowman

  /  autty

Thomas Tuchel revealed Max Dowman's exclusion from his 35-man England squad was done to avoid increasing the pressure on the Arsenal youngster. 

Dowman thrust himself into the spotlight during Arsenal's 2-0 win over Everton last weekend, with the talented teenager scoring the Gunners' second goal at Emirates Stadium. 

And in doing so, he became the youngest goalscorer in Premier League history at just 16 years and 73 days old. 

Mikel Arteta said that Dowman's impact for the Gunners was "not normal", with many tipping him to be included in Tuchel's latest squad, which was announced on Friday.

However, Tuchel elected against selecting him, but left the door open to a potential place in the Three Lions' World Cup squad in the summer.

"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."

Dowman has made seven appearances in all competitions for the Premier League leaders this season, though only two of those have come from the start. 

He has played just 236 minutes of football in those outings, something which Tuchel also noted. 

"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," added Tuchel.

"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.

"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 is 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."

Related: Arsenal Arteta Tuchel
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