Rio Ferdinand has overlooked the likes of Declan Rice and Gabriel Magalhaes and named 16-year-old Max Dowman as the ‘key player’ in Arsenal’s Premier League title push.
The Gunners, bidding to win the league for the first time since 2004, will look to move 12 points clear at the top of the Premier League when they face Bournemouth on Saturday.
After Arsenal’s match against Bournemouth, second-placed Manchester City will have two games in hand, the first against Chelsea on Sunday.
Mikel Arteta’s side remain firm favourites to win the Premier League but defeats to Man City in the Carabao Cup final and a dismal FA Cup exit at the hands of Championship side Southampton has raised concern in north London.
Arteta will hope to lean on experienced pros in his squad like Rice and Gabriel, but Ferdinand believes it is teenage sensation Dowman who could be ‘massive’ for Arsenal in the run-in.
Dowman, who turned 16 in December, has only made four appearances for Arsenal in 2026 but seems to make an impact whenever he is used by Arteta, scoring a superb goal in the 2-0 win over Everton last month.
The midfielder’s breakthrough has led to calls for Dowman to be included in Thomas Tuchel’s England squad for the World Cup this summer and Ferdinand believes he ‘has to go’.
Asked about the impact Dowman can have for club and country over the next few months, Ferdinand said on his YouTube channel: ‘I think he has to go (to the World Cup). I think he’s special.
‘He’s doing the same thing he did through every age group in the Premier League against grown men. He’s been doing the same thing in training against Arsenal players who are top of the Premier League.
‘Even the players there are going “wow”, even the manager is saying he’s not seen anything like this from a player so young. It’s crazy.
‘Those talents have to go – Michael Owen went to the World Cup young and blew up the whole world. You have to give these talents the experience and even if he went there and didn’t play it would be useful for him to get used to the environment and playing at a tournament.
‘That would be hugely valuable; we’ve seen players do that before and benefit from it. I didn’t play a minute at the 1998 World Cup but that experience really helped at the 2002 tournament.
‘I would love to see him go – it would be so exciting for English football. I would 100% take him – look at Spain with Lamine Yamal, I’m not comparing them but they saw a special talent and took him and then he blew everyone’s socks off.’
Discussing Dowman’s role at title-chasing Arsenal, ex-Manchester United and England defender Ferdinand added: ‘He could be the key to Mikel Arteta getting Arsenal over the line, I think he’s that good.
‘He’s not got the mental scars that the other players have because of what they’ve gone through in previous seasons.
‘You might need someone like him to lean on and tell him to be fearless and help us through it without giving him too much responsibility.
‘He could be a massive key for Arsenal in that sense.’
Arsenal ended their two-game losing run in the Champions League on Tuesday night, beating Sporting 1-0 in the first leg of their quarter-final tie.
The European clash looked set to end in a stalemate before substitute Kai Havertz scored an injury-time winner to give Arsenal a narrow lead going into next week’s second leg.
For more stories like this, check our sport page.
Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on
Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
MORE: Jamie Carragher blasts ‘awful’ Liverpool star after PSG defeat: ‘He makes a mistake every game’
MORE: Arne Slot explains Mohamed Salah snub after Liverpool defeat to PSG
MORE: Luis Enrique admits ‘surprise’ with Arne Slot decision after PSG beat Liverpool
