Wayne Rooney sends Max Dowman a wonderkid warning after 'surreal' Arsenal debut

Wayne Rooney admitted he found it “surreal” watching Max Dowman make his Premier League debut.

Arsenal whizz kid Dowman isthe talk of English football and introduced himself on the biggest stage when he made his first-team debut against Leeds on Saturday.

Dowman was just 15 years and 234 days old and it brought back some amazing memories for ex-England captain Rooney, who was the Premier League’s original kid wonder. Rooney, now 39, scored a wonder goal for Everton against Arsenal back in October 2002 when he was still five days short of his 17th birthday.

Fast forward nearly 23 years and Rooney found himself watching Dowman’s debut with his own son Kai, who is 15 and on Manchester United’s books - he scored his first goal for their under-18s on Saturday - and that brought it all home.

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Rooney, on his own BBC podcast, said: “I was sat there with my son and my son is older than him! I watched Kai play with the under-18s, got his first goal which is, again, three years above and that’s a great achievement.

“Kai has actually played against him and Kai is two months older than him. It’s absolutely crazy that he’s playing first team football in the Premier League. But from what I’ve seen, Max Dowman looks a very level-headed lad, you hope he manages to deal with it and understands what is coming his way soon.”

Rooney also recalled his own progression into Everton’s first team at the time - and, within two years, he was playing for England at a major tournament. Ex-England captain Rooney actually believes that Dowman will find it easier at Arsenal than he did at Everton because the teenager is surrounded by better players.

Rooney said: “It’s surreal, it’s so strange, one minute you are in the youth team and the next minute you are in the first team dressing room with some of you heroes and, for me, my heroes when I was growing up.

“I was around Duncan Ferguson’s house, just chilling with him, Alan Stubbs and I’m thinking: ‘what is going on here?’ It’s something you have to get used to very quickly because it can get you if you don’t get used to it.

“Max is going in to a team who are challenging in the Premier League, challenging to win the Champions League so the step up for him will be with better players than when I came in.”

Rooney also recalled one of his commercial deals that he signed at 14 when it was obvious he was about to become a phenomenon in English football. There were no sports cars for Rooney after passing his test even if his future wife Colleen had a better car.

There was also a warning in there for Dowman about making sure he surrounds himself with the right people and continues to listen to his family.

Rooney added: “I was 14, I signed a deal with Ford and they used to give my Dad a Ford Galaxy. But I didn’t realise that part of the contract was that when I passed my driving test my first car had to be a Ford. I got a Ford Ka, a purple thing with personalised number plates and I was driving round while Colleen was in a BMW X5.

“The first thing you must do is stay with your family and friends, listen to them really because there will be people out there who try to get in touch, some for good reason, some not for good reasons. You just try to be a kid, play with your mates and that can get taken away from you.

"Normally, I’d go back after games with Everton, get the ball out and play on the street with my mates. That’s what I would normally do. There used to these garages and you’d use one of the garage doors and you’d mess around with your mates and I’m sure Max will be doing the same with his mates.”

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