Do these 3 things before closing this tab:
1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsMax Dowman does not appear on EA SPORTS FC 26’s official Arsenal ratings list, and a third-party Football Manager 26 article predicts he will be added in a later database update or in Football Manager 27. Neither publisher has explained the omission. The official material available for both games documents how the lists and databases work, but it does not say why Dowman is missing.
What the EA SPORTS FC 26 listing does and does not show
EA’s EA SPORTS FC 26: Arsenal Player Ratings page lists the player items released at launch. It is not a complete record of every card or player appearance in the game. EA states that its launch Player Items table does not reflect every type of item, and it does not cover later live-form updates in other modes. So a player’s absence from that table tells you that he is not in the launch Player Items for Arsenal on that page. It does not, on its own, prove that he is absent from every mode or from every item type that EA may release later.
Dowman’s age and what his profile confirms
The Premier League profile for Max Dowman gives his date of birth as 31 December 2009 and identifies him as an Arsenal player. As of the date of this article, that makes him 16.
The profile establishes his club and his age. It does not explain how either game’s database decides which players to include. Any claim that a specific age rule, licensing restriction or submission deadline caused his omission would go beyond the evidence, because neither EA nor Sports Interactive has published such an explanation for Dowman.
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Why Football Manager 26 may differ: base data and updates
Football Manager’s own documentation explains how its data is set up, and that explains part of the picture.
- Base data has a start date. Football Manager’s guide to starting your first save in FM26 says the data is accurate as of the start of the 2025/26 season. Anything that changed after that date is only in the game if a later database update carries it.
- Players choose database depth. The same guide explains that players choose the database depth when they start a save.
- Updates change ratings. The FM26 Update (26.2) changed Current Ability, Potential Ability and attributes for thousands of players and staff. The update notes do not name Max Dowman, and they do not say whether any player was added or removed.
Existing saves versus new careers
The 26.2 update notes state that a new career is required to experience the database and competition changes in that update. A save started before the update will not pick up those changes simply by installing it. For a reader checking whether Dowman is in their game, this matters because an older save can look as though the database has not changed at all.
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The steps below follow the documented behaviour:
- Confirm that your Football Manager 26 installation has the 26.2 update or later, using the update notes on the Football Manager news page.
- If you are checking a player in an existing save, start a new career, because the update’s database and competition changes are only applied to new careers.
- When the new career is set up, choose the database depth you want, as the save guide describes, and then search for Dowman within the Arsenal squad.
If Dowman still does not appear after those steps, the documentation available does not explain why. The likely cause is that he is not in the database version you are using, which is the question the third-party article raises but cannot resolve.
What each source establishes
| Source | What it establishes | What it does not establish |
|---|---|---|
| Premier League profile | Date of birth (31 December 2009) and Arsenal affiliation | Anything about EA or Football Manager databases |
| EA SPORTS FC 26 Arsenal ratings page | Scope of the launch Player Items table, which excludes some item types and later live-form updates | Whether Dowman is absent from every mode or every item type |
| Football Manager 26.2 update notes | Changes to ratings for thousands of players and staff, and the need for a new career to see database changes | Whether Dowman was added, changed or left out in that update |
| Football Manager save guide | Base data is accurate as of the start of the 2025/26 season, and database depth is chosen at setup | The reason any individual player is or is not in the base data |
| FM26.co.uk article | A third-party prediction that Dowman will be added later in a database update or in FM27 | Any official reason from the publisher. It is not confirmation from Sports Interactive or EA |
What remains unconfirmed
The official sources explain how the ratings list is scoped and how Football Manager’s data and updates work. They do not explain why Max Dowman is missing from either game. A prediction of later inclusion in Football Manager, from FM26.co.uk, is a reasonable guess about how updates work, but it is not a statement from the developer. Treat any explanation that cites a specific rule as unverified until EA or Sports Interactive confirms it.
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Readers who want to see whether his status changes should check the EA ratings page for later item releases and the Football Manager news page for future database updates, and should note which edition and version they are using when they compare results.
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