England wildcard Angel Gomes is Man Utd hero’s godson and reinvented himself in new position after quitting Old Trafford

LUCKY for Angel Gomes that he did not find playing holding midfield as “boring” as Marcus Rashford – or the Lille star may never have had his shot with England.

Gomes, 24, is the eye-catching name in the new-look Three Lions squad named by interim boss Lee Carsley for the upcoming clashes with the Republic of Ireland and Finland.

Most fans will vaguely remember the Londoner as the pint-sized No10 who became Manchester United’s youngest debutant since Duncan Edwards in 2017 – before leaving on a free three years later.

That is unless they take a keen interest in Ligue 1 or the England Under-21s, of course.

For that is where respective managers Paulo Fonseca and Carsley have repurposed Gomes into a deep-lying playmaker who controls the ball in front of the back four.

He was a revelation in that role alongside Liverpool’s Curtis Jones as Carsley’s England won the Under-21 Euros without conceding a single goal last summer.

Speaking ahead of that tournament, Gomes revealed he revels in playing No6 even more than his old position behind the strikers – and deems it far less dull than ex-United team-mate Rashford did.

Gomes said: “One hundred per cent, I enjoy it more.

“Deep down, I’ve always been a No10 but always appreciated and enjoyed players behind me, the deep-lying midfield: Xavi, [Andres] Iniesta, [Paul] Scholes, [Andrea] Pirlo.

“I’ve always admired them growing up. Because I’ve played higher I know what’s required when playing lower. I can distribute and help the team build which I actually enjoy.

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“It’s funny because I was speaking to Rashford at St George’s Park [in June 2023] and when we were younger, believe it or not he was a No6 when he was growing up.

“You wouldn’t expect that! It was around the Under-15s or 16s. He did it for a couple of games and then moved back up to his natural position.

“We were speaking about that, and he was saying, ‘Do you not find it boring though? You can’t attack’.

“I said, ‘No I don’t, but if I had your pace and attributes then I would find it boring!’”

Cristiano Ronaldo once advised a young Gomes to “try to score” during a training session.

But the godson of CR7’s former United team-mate Nani has always preferred assisting over putting the ball in the back of the net.

Gomes, who joined United at the age of six and is eligible to play for Portugal through his former footballer father, likes the “calculation” of finding the right angle for a precise pass.

Carsley pointed out the importance of having players who are used to winning things at international level when naming his squad last week.

Gomes’ Lille evolution

Gomes falls into that category, having triumphed alongside Phil Foden at the Under-17 World Cup in 2017 as well as last summer with the Under-21s in Georgia.

Expectation weighed down on him after making his United bow aged just 16 years and 263 days, claiming that his wonderkid tag at the time was “obviously not something I wanted”.

He only made 10 United appearances before making the surprise decision to leave, explaining that he “had to follow my heart… I felt that, if I had stayed, there wouldn’t have been a lot of opportunities for me”.

There is a sense of irony to those words now given United’s struggles in holding midfield – but then again, no one saw him in that role when he departed Old Trafford.

It was at Lille, where he pitched up after leaving his boyhood club, that he eventually converted to that position – having been tried in pretty much every other midfield role.

“Demanding” and “very detailed” Fonseca played a key role in the youngster learning his new position, speaking in Portuguese and English to Gomes who he viewed as “the most intelligent player in my team”.

Gomes’ Carsley link

The 51-year-old left Lille for AC Milan this summer where English trio Fikayo Tomori, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Tammy Abraham will hope for similar developmental guidance.

Gomes, who celebrated his birthday on Saturday, has become a regular starter for his club.

He suffered a scare when clashing heads with defender Amadou Kone against Reims last month, prompting a trip to the hospital, but thankfully he was OK.

Gomes’ biggest headache has been catching the attention of viewers back home.

He explained: “It’s difficult. Whoever watches knows how well I’ve played in games but a lot of people don’t. A lot of people go off who’s scored or assisted.

“When I play deeper, chipping in [with goals and assists] isn’t the be all and end all. If we win and I play well then that’s great for me.

“It’s difficult because all eyes are on the Premier League and rightly so. That’s the pinnacle, the highest level at the moment.”

Luckily, Gomes has a manager in Carsley who is well aware of how exciting he can be.

Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk