It will have been a sight to leave Manchester United bosses with their heads in their hands.
Not the thrashing from Liverpool at Old Trafford. No. Not the late defeat at Brighton, or the image of Marcus Rashford wondering around the pitch resembling a competition winner. But the vision of Angel Gomes bossing an England international from midfield. On his first start, no less.
A young man small in stature but big on ability, using the talent of perpetual motion to keep his side in composed control with the ball. In other words, the job Casemiro, United’s top earner on £400,000-a-week and brought in for £70m, failed to do so miserably in the 3-0 thrashing by Liverpool.
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Gomes’ performance in the 2-0 win over Finland might not have been on the same level as what Didier Deschamps or N’Golo Kante used to provide for France and Chelsea respectively. But it was reminiscent.
He has a bright future on the international stage, and it’s safe to assume United’s loss will go on to become England’s gain for years to come. Which makes a mockery of United’s decision not to do more to keep Gomes at Old Trafford when they had the chance.
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(Image: Offside via Getty Images)
United offered Gomes a new deal back in 2020, but it was assurances of more first team chances he wanted instead of hard cash. These were not forthcoming from the manager at the time, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, whose name might well be getting cursed (again) in the corridors of power at United.
Not least because Gomes had become the youngest player in United’s history when making his debut at the age of 16 years and 263 days in 2017. He replaced Wayne Rooney on the pitch, and Duncan Edwards in the record books. He was also the first player born in the 2000s to appear in the Premier League.
The end result from Solskjaer’s blind snub was Gomes was released, and joined Lille. And following a season on-loan at Boavista, Gomes returned to the French club to establish himself as one of the brightest talents in Europe.
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Having just turned 24, Gomes has the footballing world at his feet. People used to claim that footballers who left United saw their careers go downhill.
This argument was based on the presumption there was no better place to grow, flourish and achieve than Old Trafford. But Gomes has reduced this fanciful and naive notion to absolute rubble.
He is one of the exceptions to the supposed rule, and considering the state of flux at United continues to show no signs of coming to an end, won’t be the last, either.