Interestingly enough we had planned to look at Angel Gomes’ situation this week, as a month after his exit from United, he was still without a club.
Then right on cue, the England youth international clinched his move to French side Lille.
We had assumed at the time he had an immediate move lined up, but we understand these life-changing moves can take time.
It looks like he has got the move he wanted, and with a message sent on social media, he expressed his sadness at leaving United behind as he broke his silence on his exit.
Reading his emotional and heartfelt message, it really is hard to have any hard feeling towards Gomes, and we can only wish him well.
He could have played tonight
Gomes had been training with United’s first team since the lockdown and manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer wanted him to stay.
The problem was that Solskjaer had not given Gomes much reason to, rarely selecting him, and putting faith in Andreas Pereira and Jesse Lingard early in the season, who didn’t exactly seize their chances.
Gomes could have played tonight against LASK; just like Teden Mengi, James Garner and Tahith Chong all had a chance to do.
He will have mixed feelings about missing out on the chance to play in a Europa League last 16 tie, but ultimately, Gomes would probably have played tonight and then sat on the sidelines for two or three months, waiting for his next chance.
For a player who is clearly too good for under-23 football at this point, Gomes needed a challenge, and he has got one at Lille.
The one odd aspect of the move
Curiously he has been loaned out to Portuguese side Boavista for the first season.
That should be a good move for him, he will get plenty of game time – but here’s the big question, ‘surely Gomes could have landed a loan move to Boavista and signed a contract at Manchester United?’.
There is something a little odd here. United got this one wrong, not to be able to win over a young player who clearly loves the club, and set out a future plan and pathway for him to reach the first team.
Perhaps Gomes didn’t believe he could make the jump, or his advisors simply chased a better financial package at Lille.
The French side are renowned for developing talent, and have cashed in on Nicolas Pepe and Victor Osimhen for £70 million plus fees in consecutive years.
After one year at Boavista, and then another year at Lille, Gomes could become one of Europe’s most in demand stars, and have clubs scrambling to pay big money for him and put him straight into their team.
It would not be a surprise if United are one of them. Good luck to the young kid. He’s got great talent. We hope it works out for him.
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