Angel Gomes was the surprise name on England’s squad list for September’s Nations League games against the Republic of Ireland and Finland but, for those who have studied his development at Lille and know his strong connection with Lee Carsley, the 24-year-old’s call-up was totally understandable.
The interim England manager saw a special talent in Gomes when the pair worked together at under-21 level, to the point where Carsley, even at this stage, recognised a potential future coach in the midfielder.
“He is very easy to speak to,” reflected Gomes during his first press duties as a senior England player at St George’s Park. “He will ask you what you think of the training session, the game, or he’ll pull you aside and say, ‘I have got this planned out, what do you think?’.
“It’s not just him asking the questions. He wants your input and he will listen. I think when a manager puts that ownership and confidence in you, you repay it on the pitch.”
Gomes explained his understanding of the game during an interview with The Athletic last year after he had won the European Under-21 Championship with Carsley and his England team-mates, beating Spain in the final.
“The day before the Spain game, we literally spoke about different ways of being able to press them and even within that, other details. I’m just a bit of a football nerd,” Gomes said. “If I’m watching the game, I’m trying to suss out what the teams are doing. I’ll keep it to myself at home because it can get annoying but Lee gave me that licence.”
Carsley “set everything up”, said Gomes, but “if things weren’t going right in the game, we’d be able to voice and change things ourselves, so that was really cool.”
Gomes (centre) in England training this week (Carl Recine/Getty Images)
A senior promotion felt inevitable once Carsley got the top job, although Gomes revealed he was already on Gareth Southgate’s radar, receiving an email from the FA to place him on a standby list for this summer’s European Championship in Germany. “You get confirmation that if anything was to happen, you are in the plans,” he said. “But I just didn’t make the group. It is always fuel to keep going to get into the next selection.”
Gomes is one of only three England players to win the Under-21 Euros having also lifted the Under-17 World Cup, the others being Emile Smith Rowe and Morgan Gibbs-White, who also earned his first senior call-up this camp. Gomes and Gibbs-White are very close, and the story of them telling each other about their big news is sweet.
“I didn’t want to ring him because I didn’t know whether he’d found out or not, and he didn’t want to ring me, so there was a bit of tension,” Gomes said. “My dad was like, ‘Just ring him’. When he answered, we both looked at each other and started smiling. Before anyone said anything, I was like ‘No?’ and he was like ‘Yeah’, and we just started jumping up in the room.”
Speaking to The Athletic last year, Gomes touched on a specific goal that is close to realisation. “I always said my dream was with the (England) team that I started off with, at under-15s to under-17s, if there can be a chunk of us that make it to the first team, because it’s rare.”
Gomes joined Lille in August 2020 after leaving Manchester United (Valentine Chapuis/AFP via Getty Images)
So, what can England expect from Gomes, who came through at Manchester United and was long held up as their brightest academy star, only to leave in 2020 to test himself abroad?
In his own words: “I would like to say I am just a midfielder. I can operate in all three roles: I can play as the deep-lying midfielder, I can play as a No 8, I can play as a No 10. I just love to play in the midfield and be able to distribute and help the team play in all different areas of the pitch. I am confident. I like keeping the ball, I like taking responsibility.”
It is that football brain that has allowed Gomes to craft a career at the top level despite his 5ft 6in (167cm) height, which often led to pre-judgements from coaches.
Ligue 1 is close to the Premier League for speed and physicality but Gomes ranks highly for ball retention because he reads the game so well. He manages to avoid going one-on-one against larger opponents and shielding the ball through technique comes naturally to him.
In Ligue 1 last season, manager Paulo Fonseca had Gomes operating deeper, in more dangerous areas for build-up. Gomes was among the top group for keeping hold of possession while also receiving significant pressures per match. United fans might also notice Manuel Ugarte, signed from Paris Saint-Germain, featuring prominently.
Those performances for Lille under Fonseca, who left to take charge of AC Milan in June, alerted the attention of clubs across Europe, including at least one elite team in the Premier League. Gomes is out of contract next summer and though Lille are offering fresh terms, the time might be right for him to take the next step as a free agent.
Gomes is about to take part in his second Champions League campaign, having first done so in 2021-22 when he scored against Wolfsburg. This August, he played both legs as Lille knocked out Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahce at the third qualification stage. Mourinho was the manager to give Gomes his United debut aged 16 years and 263 days, the youngest player to make his debut since Duncan Edwards in 1953.
Gomes replaces Wayne Rooney on his Manchester United debut in 2017 (Matthew Lewis/Getty Images)
Gomes replaced Wayne Rooney against Crystal Palace in May 2017 and there was hope he would forge a long career at Old Trafford. But three years later, despite United having made what was described as a “very good” contract offer, Gomes took the plunge to sign for Lille, spending his first year on loan at Boavista, to get regular first-team minutes.
In that interview with The Athletic, Gomes said: “It’s a big gamble leaving United, leaving my home in Manchester, going into the unknown. I felt like I took a thousand steps backward but it’s all coming to fruition.”
Sitting at the home of English football, Gomes could bask in a sense of fulfilment the risk had paid off.
“Through the journey, I knew eventually I’d be able to create a pathway to be in this position that I’m in now.”
(Other contributor: Thom Harris)
(Top photo: Nick Potts/PA Images via Getty Images)
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