“He’s got ability where you just can’t teach it, because he plays with that freedom,” added Walcott.
“We talk about the love of football, football being boring at times to watch. Watching, he’s not boring to watch.
“He’s so positive every time he has it and that’s what I love about these players that are just positive. It’s so refreshing.”
Walcott knows all about the pressure Dowman will face, having made his own Premier League debut for Arsenal at 16 and for England a year later.
He admitted having a proper support network around Dowman was “important” and the “main key” to his progress.
“The biggest challenge is the outside noise and how he copes with even his school life, that balance of even walking out on the street and recognising him,” Walcott added on BBC Radio 5 Live’s Monday Night Club.
“That social media world, I didn’t have that coming through, we didn’t have that when we were younger. It was very different.”
