As a young player at Manchester United, Angel Gomes was expected to become a star for both his club and country. However, his path to joining England’s national team has been challenging.
To start with, this journey began after Gomes made the daring choice to leave United — one of the biggest soccer clubs in the world and the team he supported as a child.
“When I left, it was more for the idea to find myself, find myself as a player and, obviously, as a person going through the journey that I went through, I knew that eventually I’d be able to create a pathway for myself to be able to be in this position that I’m in now,” the 24-year-old midfielder said on Wednesday.
Gomes spoke after being selected for England’s senior squad for the upcoming UEFA Nations League matches against Ireland and Finland.
He has already played for England at youth levels and was part of the teams that won the under-17 World Cup and the U21 European Championship.
The move to the senior team comes after Gomes chose to develop his skills in Portugal and France with Boavista and Lille, respectively, after his progress at United slowed.
His belief in his own skills has paid off with this call-up under interim coach Lee Carsley, who managed the U21 Euros winning team last year.
Gomes made his senior debut for United in 2017 when he was just 16, coming on as a late substitute for club legend Wayne Rooney.
He stayed at United for three more years, but after only making nine more appearances, he moved to Lille and was soon loaned to Boavista.
“It was difficult leaving the club that I was at from six and headed into the unknown really. From then it’s been an uphill trajectory, but also with a lot of difficulties and difficult moments, but being in this position now makes everything all worth it,” Gomes said.
Some might say Gomes was meant to become a top player. His godfather is former United and Portugal winger Nani, who was a close friend of Gomes’ father, Gil, a former Portugal youth player.
