Arsenal’s Dowman in line for England senior training call-up

Thomas Tuchel is considering calling up Max Dowman for a training session with the England first team, according to a report.

England boss Thomas Tuchel saw his squad for the September-October international break significantly reduced on Monday, as Arsenal’s Declan Rice, Newcastle United’s Tino Livramento, Chelsea’s Cole Palmer, and Manchester United duo Kobbie Mainoo and Marcus Rashford all pulled out.

Tuchel called up James Garner and Morgan Gibbs-White as a result, but that still leaves the squad three players lighter than at the initial announcement.

There’s no suggestion the manager is currently considering including anyone else in his senior squad, but there are now reports circulating that Arsenal youngster Max Dowman could get a chance in training.

Charlie Wyett reports for The S*n that Tuchel is considering giving Dowman his first taste of training with the England senior side, with the manager already looking into calling up some youth players even before the recent withdrawals.

Dowman has been included in the England u19 squad for the current break, but with the team playing their first match at England HQ St. George’s Park, he wouldn’t have to go far to spend some time with the senior side this week.

The Arsenal youngster will surely end up in the England first-team squad on a regular basis eventually, but the national team setup are always hesitant to promote players too quickly.

In general, they prefer to allow the various age group squads to complete a full tournament cycle together. One benefit of this is that they don’t have to drop players back down quite so often.

But giving someone like Dowman a chance in training is a win-win. It would help him prepare for a future call-up, and it would allow Tuchel to assess him in a first-team environment without the commitment of calling him up full-time.

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