Angel Gomes: England's new starlet that Man Utd let go

“Technically and tactically he is excellent and he’s a player people are going to be really excited to see.”

When picking the uncapped Angel Gomes in his first England squad, Lee Carsley chose not to protect his new young midfielder, but put him in the spotlight. One reason for that is the FA have been developing him for big things for some time.

Over the last few years, Gareth Southgate’s assistant, Steve Holland, delivered presentations to other FA coaches on the type of players the England set-up wants to see. One of them is a midfielder that fits Gomes’ profile.

A Frenkie de Jong who can receive the ball off the back four and then move away, use disguises and so on,” Paul McGuinness, Gomes’ former Man Utd youth coach who was in those meetings while working for the FA, tells Sky Sports.

“Someone who has those skills to receive the ball with their back to goal to start the play and keep control. We’ve seen Rodri do it for Spain and Man City. That’s one profile that we would be trying to promote within our country to try and improve.

“We searched within the FA to try and improve that type of midfield player. That’s the type of player Angel is.”

It matches Carsley’s own description of the player – and it hints at Gomes being an England regular, not just an experiment, during the England interim manager’s time in charge, however long that may be.

“Angel’s different to what we’ve got in terms of a player who can play deeper but play like a ten. He’s very skilful, the way he can receive balls, the way he can control games,” Carsley said after announcing his squad last week.

It is high praise for a player that many England fans have not seen play. Even still, the Lille midfielder was one of Ligue 1’s most creative players last season, sitting at the top of the assist charts.

But his journey towards an England call-up began a long time ago on the books of Manchester United, aged just five.

‘Skill is King’ – How Man Utd’s motto developed Gomes

One aspect that stands out about Gomes is his height. In an era of tall, physical, duel-winning midfielders, the 24-year-old stands – yet still impresses – at just 5ft 6in. It was the same scenario for Gomes when he was in the Manchester United youth academy

“When you first see a player like that, they’re always smaller than the rest,” says McGuinness. “They stand out straight away from a physical point of view. You go, ‘How is this kid playing with them?’

“But then straight away, you realise why. His touch, control, his movement, his cleverness, all the techniques made him stand out. In every age group, he would be the smallest player – but he’d be the standout player as well.”

Thankfully for Gomes, height was not a factor United youth coaches considered. The general motto in the youth set-up was ‘Skill is King’ – effectively, it does not matter how big you are, it’s your skills that stand out.

“That was always our thought of keeping smaller players,” said McGuinness. “We had that way at Manchester United for years with people like Jesse Lingard who was really small there before.

“Even though he’s a giant now, Scott McTominay was tiny when he was younger. Tom Cleverley too. These were all players who were physically behind but our motto was ‘Skill is King’ and they would come to the fore eventually. It’s great to see that happening now with Angel.

“What’s so pleasing for me now, to have seen him all the way through and you’re hoping and backing him through the years that ‘Skill is King’ and that skill is going to come out. Now, it has been backed and believed by the England manager to put him in the squad.”

The ‘Skill is King’ motto allowed Gomes’ technical abilities to be tested in bigger age groups. The midfielder was part of Man Utd’s Scholarship Scheme – which grouped Gomes in the best players aged between 12 and 16 – so was always working with older players from a young age.

But Gomes would also consistently train well above his age group. When he made the United U18s squad, he was just 16 years old.

“He was a player who was going to be dependent on his highest skill, timing and being able to out-think people, so to play in age groups of people above him definitely encouraged that,” adds his former coach.

“If he was playing in his age group, he wouldn’t have had the same development. But he was constantly training and playing with older age groups.

“You are your environment as well – the people around you dictate how you have to compete to beat them. He was always looking for ways of beating bigger and stronger opponents.

As a boy, you might come to the academy but his education didn’t stop there. He was practising non-stop at home and he was totally dedicated to his craft.

The moment he first got on Carsley’s radar was in United colours. During the 2016/17 season, United’s U18s side faced rivals Manchester City, managed by Carsley. City had Foden at one end of the pitch, United had Gomes. But the latter still managed to stand out in the battle of No 10s.

“He was as good in the same level as Phil that day, it was an excellent technique and standard and level of game,” said Carsley at his first England press conference last week.

It all begs the question of why Man Utd let their own version of Foden go. Gomes left Old Trafford on a free transfer in the summer of 2020 after rejecting a new deal to stay at the club.

He had just 10 first-team appearances to his name and all of his Premier League appearances came as a substitute.

“When you change managers so often, managers will want to bring players they’ve had themselves from different clubs, or they would want players with more experience for those positions,” says McGuinness.

“That would be the norm. He probably suffered from the fact that United were in a different era of changing coaches and managers, whereas if he’d have been in the era of Sir Alex Ferguson then you’ve got a lot more stability in the staff and it was easier for Sir Alex to bring in youngsters and blood them in.

“In a different era or time, he would have had more opportunities.”

Finding his feet in France

For Gomes, the journey continued by signing a long-term deal at Lille. He was immediately sent out on loan to Portuguese side Boavista – where his performances earned him a call from the Portugal national team about his availability. It was rejected.

By the time Gomes returned to Lille after his year away, the club were reigning French champions and Jocelyn Gourvennec was newly placed in charge. But the English midfielder being part of the plans at Lille was still up in the air.

“For me, yes. For the president, it wasn’t the case,” Gourvennec tells Sky Sports, also revealing he was convinced by Gomes after one training session.

“I had an appointment with the Lille president to talk through my first impression with the players. I made a summary of the four or five days and I said to him, ‘There’s a special young player here in Angel’.

“The president said he was coming back from loan so will leave the club. I told him he was the best young player in the team. He was incredible.”

Gomes initially struggled to make his mark in France. With Lille’s structure very much in place after their Ligue 1 title win, the midfielder had to settle for a wide position at first.

It was not until the second half of the season when Gomes starting to get regular spots as a No 10.

But after Gourvennec left Lille at the end of the 2021/22 season, the next Lille manager Paulo Fonseca – now of AC Milan – deployed him in a deeper role next to club captain Benjamin Andre.

“After months, he grew up in France,” says Gourvennec. “After I left Lille, Paulo Fonseca put Angel in the front of the defence. He then had all the pitch in front of him.

“Now he plays a No 10, but playing a little bit deeper. In that position I didn’t think he had adapted to it as a ‘regista’. But now it’s a good thing.

“He’s different. He won’t play like Declan Rice or Jude Bellingham. He’s a different player to what the England team have.

“Maybe he’s similar to Foden, who is left-footed but is also not as strong. A good technique, good skills to eliminate opponents and score goals. He has good shooting in the last 20 metres.

“But he’s different, you can put him in his own specific box. It can be another quality for the team.”

Impressing England youth

Carsley’s decision to call-up Gomes was not necessarily a surprise, given how important he has been for England’s youth teams in the past.

Alongside Foden, he was a key player for the England side that won the U17s World Cup in 2017 under Steve Cooper. He played a similar role when Carsley’s U21s won the European Championships last year.

“Playing abroad may have helped but the biggest thing was playing in those England squads,” says McGuinness.

“He’s been more than holding his own with the likes of Phil Foden. It will be a great benefit to him going into that squad and already knowing those players who look up to him in a sense.

“Foden, even though he’s Premier League Player of the Year, will have great admiration for Angel having played with him already.

“At the U17 World Cup he was one of the main players in that squad, along with Foden. All of those coaches will have passed on the message that this lad has the skill and the temperament to be a team player – just like he did with us at Manchester United.”

Gomes has been earmarked as an important England cog for some time. Now it is time for the 24-year-old to gain even more admirers.