Man Utd let go of a potential £80m star in the making for nothing

To say Manchester United have made errors in the transfer market would be doing the whole topic a disservice.

Antony for £82m? Good grief. Harry Maguire for £80m? Wow. United have spent a shed load over the last decade or so and it’s not got them anywhere.

Erik ten Hag may have tasted FA Cup and Carabao Cup success since joining from Ajax but supporters want the Premier League, they want regular Champions League qualification.

It has been over a decade – 2011/12 – since the Red Devils last won the league. How they must crave the Halcyon days of Sir Alex Ferguson again.

He was certainly a better operator in the transfer market. No other United manager would have been able to stroll over to Arsenal and prise away Robin van Persie. It’s unlikely many other managers would have been able to secure Wayne Rooney’s signature as a teenager before turning him into an all-time great.

Perhaps he would have kept a certain Angel Gomes around too, learning from the mistake of letting a young Paul Pogba go before re-signing him.

Why Angel Gomes left Man Utd for free

The date was July 2012. Man Utd had just released Pogba after his failure to sign a new contract with the club. He went on to enjoy a fabulous time with Juventus before heading back to Old Trafford to the tune of a mega £89m transfer fee in 2016.

This time, the date is June 2020. Gomes is the midfielder in question walking away having been released by United. Now, in 2024, there are rumours they want him back, just like Pogba. It’s funny how football works, isn’t it?

So, why did the Englishman leave in the first place? Well, despite being made what was described as a ‘very good offer’ by The Athletic, talks broke down after many months due to a continued absence from the first-team picture.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer assured him that chances would be forthcoming but Gomes did not believe that and headed elsewhere. Lille came calling which is where he’s enjoying his football now.

2024 has been a breakout year for the talented ace who is now 24 years of age. He’s a true England superstar in the making.

Angel Gomes’ numbers for England

Now with 123 appearances under his belt for Lille, Gomes is only going from strength to strength for Lille and it surely won’t be too long before he gets a major move.

His performances for the Three Lions certainly suggest he deserves one. Handed a first international start in the last break against Finland by Lee Carsley, Gomes started for the second time for his country against the Fins again on Sunday evening. His performance was of a first-class standard.

He linked up beautifully with Jack Grealish for England’s opener. Receiving the ball in a tight pocket of space just outside the penalty area, he delightfully turned the ball around the corner into the path of the Manchester City winger who finished with ease.

It was one of many glimpses of the 24-year-old immense talent as he went on to amass a whopping 108 touches and 97 accurate passes during his 80 minutes on the field. Only Marc Guehi completed more passes, while only Guehi and Trent Alexander-Arnold had more touches of the ball. His influence, therefore, was colossal.

Gomes also looked tidy on his previous start where his 116 passes were 34 more than the next highest player and his 130 touches were 15 more than second-best Alexander-Arnold.

England have been looking for a player in his mould for ages. They have the fancy players in Bukayo Saka, in Jude Bellingham, in Cole Palmer, but they lack the simple player, the midfielder with the ability to keep things ticking over.

They lacked that player so much that Gareth Southgate and his assistant, Steve Holland, delivered presentations to the FA detailing the type of player they wanted to see coming through.

“Someone who has those skills to receive the ball with their back to goal to start the play and keep control. We’ve seen Rodri do it for Spain and Man City. That’s one profile that we would be trying to promote within our country to try and improve,” Paul McGuinness, Gomes’ former Man Utd youth coach told Sky Sports. “We searched within the FA to try and improve that type of midfield player. That’s the type of player Angel is.”

The young Lille gem may not be of the same sort of calibre as Rodri yet but this is an individual on his way to the top. Considering how much premium midfielders get sold for in the modern market, and English ones too, he could quite comfortably be valued incredibly highly in the future.

His England colleague Declan Rice was sold for a £105m fee to Arsenal in the summer of 2023, Moises Caicedo went for £115m, Romeo Lavia headed off for £53m. Gomes is not in the same boat as Rice or Caicedo but he’s comfortably ahead in his development of Chelsea ace Lavia. Split the difference through the middle and you have what could be an £80m player in waiting. Watch this space; the former Red Devil is only going to get better.