In the fourth in-depth look at Manchester United wonderkids who didn’t make it, we analyse the Manchester United career and beyond of Angel Gomes. After a fantastic youth career, Gomes never made the cut at Old Trafford, however, since leaving Manchester has gone on to have a solid career. At just 25, he still has a huge future ahead of him.<\/p>\n
Gomes was born in August 2000 when his future club, Manchester United, were in their pomp. Having just come off the back of a treble-winning season, United went on to win the Premier League again in the 1999-2000 season.<\/p>\n
Fast forward to 2007 and Gomes’ godfather signed for United. Fan favourite and backflipping extraordinaire<\/span>, Nani signed for The Red Devils and was a massive influence on Gomes’ career.<\/p>\n The youngster was already training at Manchester United, having started at the age of six and would make his under-18s debut at just 14 years old. He would go on to sign as an academy first-year scholar ahead of the 2016\u201317 season. The London-born attacking midfielder would score a hat-trick against Everton, becoming the third player to score three goals in a game at the age of 15.<\/p>\n During the 2016-17 season, Gomes recorded 11 goals and six assists in 17 appearances for the under-18s, winning the Jimmy Murphy Young Player of the season award. For context, Marcus Rashford had won the award the year before, showing just how prestigious an award it is. Gomes remains the youngest recipient of the award in United’s history.<\/p>\n Read More<\/strong>:\u00a0<\/span>Manchester United Wonderkids Who Didn\u2019t Make It: Giuseppe Rossi<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n The end of the 2016-17 season saw Gomes make history. He came on as a substitute for Wayne Rooney in United’s final game of the season. He was the youngest player to represent The Reds since the legendary Duncan Edwards<\/a> in 1953, and became the first player born in the 2000s to play in the Premier League. At 16 years, 263 days, Gomes was certainly a Manchester United wonderkid with a lot of potential.<\/span><\/p>\n It didn’t ever take off for Gomes after his debut, despite signing his first professional contract in December 2017. Although he would get opportunities in the FA Cup, Gomes mostly operated in the youth teams in the 2018-2019 season, scoring six goals and getting five assists in 16 games. He did all he could to crack into the first team, however, during the 2019-2020 season, first team minutes dried up.<\/p>\n Following the conclusion of his contract, Manchester United and Gomes couldn’t come to an agreement on a contract extension and the record-breaker was released on a free.<\/p>\n Gomes went on to sign a five year deal with French team Lille and immediately went out on loan to Portuguese side, Boavista. This move marked Gomes’ first taste of regular, first team, men’s football. On his debut, he notched a hat-trick of assists and would go on to score from the halfway line a few weeks later. It’s safe to say that of the Manchester United wonderkids to be let go, he was certainly looking like a mistake.<\/p>\n With six goals in 32 appearances for Boavista, he returned to Lille ready to fight for his place in a more competitive league.<\/p>\nFirst Team Debut and Portuguese Venture<\/h3>\n