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6 months ago
16 Angel Gomes left Manchester United in 2020 for first-team football. Fresh reports suggest he is wanted again at Old Trafford.
The 23-year-old left United to join Lille where he has since made 113 appearances. After a short loan spell at Portuguese outfit Boavista, Gomes returned to France and made an instant impact on the Lille team.
Gomes is now a first-team regular under Lille manager Paulo Fonseca, who waxed lyrical over Gomes earlier this month. The Portuguese coach describes Gomes as “maybe the most intelligent player in [his] team” after utilising the former United starlet as a No.10 and as a No.8 this season.
Speaking to BBC Sport before a previous encounter against Aston Villa in the Europa League, Fonseca heaped praise on Gomes, saying: “Angel is maybe the most intelligent player I have in my team. He understands faster than the others everything about the game; he loves the game. He loves to learn and he is a player with big skills, big technique.”
Fonseca added: “He is a player who under pressure it is not easy to steal the ball off him and who discovers the space so easily. He is young, he has a big talent. I believe with the right coach, with the right project, with the right game for him, he can have the possibility to have a big step in his career.”
Gomes has made 42 appearances in all competitions, scoring twice and registering 10 assists.
Gomes return on the cards?
According to a report cited by TEAMtalk, United are ‘keeping tabs’ on the former academy graduate ahead of this summer’s transfer window.
The report adds that Aston Villa, Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham have all been credited with interest in Gomes’ signature. Gomes is also attracting interest from around the continent after establishing himself in Ligue 1, with AC Milan and Borussia Dortmund said to have expressed ‘interest’ in his signature.
It remains to be seen what the future holds for Gomes, but I am happy to hear he is playing regular football and enjoying himself. He deserves that and I have always felt United should have done more to keep him at the club longer.
I’d imagine there is a slim likelihood for Gomes to return to United this summer, but I would be happy to be wrong at the same time.
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