Charlie Patino says England or Spain call will come
Charlie Patino says he is sure he will play for England or Spain one day, and the former Arsenal midfielder made the point while speaking from his home in northern Spain. The 22-year-old was reacting to Max Dowman becoming the Premier League's youngest-ever scorer, a moment that sent Patino back to his own breakthrough and forward to his international future.
Dowman Goal Reached Northern Spain
Patino was 1,500 miles away from North London when Dowman scored, winding down after an away game at the Estadio Alfonso Murube in Ceuta on March 14. He had started on the substitutes' bench for Deportivo La Coruna that day, and the side later won with a stoppage-time winner.
“The goal was all over my Instagram feed, so I saw it about a hundred times!” Patino said. “What Max has done so far is great.” He added: “He's still very young, like I was when I broke through. And like me, he has still got a lot of learning and growing to do. Hopefully we'll cross paths one day and get to play with or against each other.”
Arsenal Debut Still Stands Out
The conversation quickly turned back to Patino’s own rise at Arsenal. He made his senior debut in late 2021 and scored 12 minutes after coming on in a Carabao Cup quarter-final win over Sunderland. Shaun O'Connor later called him “the best player to ever walk through the doors at Hale End”.
That early promise is still visible on his Instagram profile. Patino posted a picture of his goal celebration after that debut, captioned it “The best day of my life”, and the post remains pinned more than four years later. A comment left a couple of weeks ago read, “Max Dowman before Max Dowman.”
Patino's Next Step in Spain
Patino has also had loan spells at Blackpool and Swansea City before arriving at Deportivo, where his debut season has been slowed by a lack of regular minutes. He said, “I feel like my time is coming”, and added, “I've always believed in my ability, and I still do. I have high expectations.”
For now, the direct message from northern Spain is simple: he sees a path back to the top and still believes England or Spain will come calling. Dowman’s rise gave him the trigger to say it out loud, but the real test is whether his minutes at Deportivo turn into the kind of run that keeps that international claim alive.
