Manchester United have confirmed that youngster Angel Gomes has decided to leave the club. Gomes was one of 10 Manchester United players that were out of contract on June 30 but, unlike the other, United were indeed keen on keeping the talented 19-year-old midfielder.
A statement from United thanked Gomes for his services at the club, but also detailed how the club didn’t want to extend his tenure at Old Trafford despite being offered a new deal several times. Gomes made 10 senior appearances for The Red Devils throughout his career and started three Europa League matches for the club in 2019-20.
Many can say Gomes didn’t have a future at the club, and that could be true. He is 19 already. He might be young, but he is also a bit behind in his expected development. Other young players from his class have already earned bigger roles in the senior team such as Brandon Williams and Mason Greenwood. Plus, Gomes would’ve have had to compete for playing time with the likes of Bruno Fernandes and Paul Pogba. That’s not easy.
Letting Gomes leave wasn’t a bright decision from the club
However, Gomes shouldn’t have left the club — or at the very least, not leave for good. The best scenario would have been to loan him elsewhere after a contract extension. Perhaps he could have gone on loan for two seasons; one year at a Championship club and another one in a Premier League side. In that scenario, he could have returned to Old Trafford by age 21. More importantly, he would have done it with two years of first-team football under his belt.
Gomes has all the traits in the world to become a world-class attacking midfielder. Sadly, that won’t happen at Old Trafford. The former England U21 international will have to find a new club ahead of the 2020-21 season.
Gomes was not the only player who left Manchester United. Cameron Borthwick-Jackson, Demetri Mitchell, Ethan Hamilton, Dion McGhee, George Tanner, Aidan Barlow, Kieran O’Hara, Alex Fojticek and Largie Ramazani also departed the club earlier this week. Ramazani didn’t waste time and is set to join UD Almeria in Spain’s second-tier.
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