'I just wanted Man Utd nightmare to end' admits Angel Gomes

Suraj Radia

• 6 Oct 2024 16:00 BST
• 4 min read

Angel Gomes has admitted that his treatment at Manchester United left him ‘just wanting it to end’ after failing to break into the club’s first team.

Gomes was touted as one of the club’s brightest youngsters when coming through the academy after joining United at the age of six, however he left for Lille on a free transfer in 2020 having made just five Premier League appearances for his boyhood side.

The 24-year-old has impressed during his time in France, leading to his England debut last month and prompting interest from a host of Premier League sides, with Gomes’ contract set to expire next summer.

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After speaking with then-manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and his coaching staff, Gomes rejected a move to Barcelona but felt his first team breakthrough at Old Trafford would never come, with there being ‘no plan’ for his integration.

“It was the most difficult period of my career. On the pitch, off the pitch, I didn’t know what was going on,” Gomes told The Times. “It just felt like they wanted me to stay and go with the flow. They wanted me to go on loan but there wasn’t really much in place.

“I felt that after being there my whole life in the academy, there would have been more of a plan for me to progress. That was the hardest pill to swallow. In the last six months, I just wanted it to end really.”

Gomes would find Man Utd return ‘hard to say no to’

Gomes also revealed how a public dressing down from former manager Jose Mourinho left him on the verge of tears, although he admitted that he ‘probably needed’ the criticism.

“[Mourinho] didn’t think I had played up to standard [in a reserves match] to warrant a place in the first-team squad, and he just really let me know,” Gomes said. “At the time I was thinking, ‘Why has he done that in front of everyone? Could he not have pulled me to the side?’ A few of the players came up to me and said, ‘He just wants a reaction from you, don’t let it faze you’, but in that moment I didn’t want to hear anything.

“I rushed to my room and rang my dad and my brother. There’s not much they could say to me really. I was almost crying. I was really young. It wasn’t until I was older that I realised, with Mourinho, he’s always looking at ways to get more out of you. I think him doing that in front of everyone showed he valued me as a player. I probably needed it.”

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With United reportedly among the clubs considering a move next summer, Gomes also admitted that the ‘sentimental soft spot’ meant a return to his former club ‘would be difficult to say no to’.