Trouble for INEOS as two rivals now ‘seriously considering’ move for Utd’s ‘unbelievably gifted’ target

In partnership with

Stretty News

·19. September 2024

Trouble for INEOS as two rivals now ‘seriously considering’ move for Utd’s ‘unbelievably gifted’ target

Manchester United chiefs are mulling over a reunion with academy graduate Angel Gomes in 2025, five years after he left the club as a free agent.

The 24-year-old swapped Old Trafford for pastures new in 2020, having featured a handful of times since making his senior bow in May 2017; at the time becoming the youngest-ever player to make their competitive debut in over 60 years, being 16 years and 253 days old when he replaced Wayne Rooney vs Crystal Palace. Club legend Duncan Edwards, meanwhile, was 16 years and 185 days old.

OneFootball Videos

Gomes went on to secure exactly what he’d set out for when cutting ties with his boyhood club: playing an integral role at the heart of a top European side’s midfield. After a successful loan spell with Boavista in 2020/2021, he gradually cemented his place in the Lille XI.

His efforts for the Ligue 1 outfit may have gone somewhat unnoticed throughout Gareth Southgate’s England tenure, but that all changed when Lee Carsley was appointed as interim boss in August. The former U21s head coach was quick to integrate and utilise some of the prospects that he managed during England’s U21 Euros winning campaign last year, including Gomes, Anthony Gordon and Morgan Gibbs-White.

As such, Gomes earned his first senior international cap in a substitute appearance against the Republic of Ireland on September 7 before playing the entirety of their win over Finland just three days later. Newcastle United and Liverpool scouts were reportedly in attendance at the latter clash to see how he fared.

Gomes has his pick of suitors if he opts for Lille exit

The two Premier League clubs have joined Tottenham Hotspur in sizing up a potential swoop for the ‘unbelievably gifted’ talent in 2025 when his contract expires with Lille, with Spurs and Liverpool, in particular, said to be ‘seriously considering’ Gomes as a concrete option to bolster their ranks, per GiveMeSport.

United are also amongst the mix, but perhaps lesser so than their top-six opponents, though watching him leave for free, his career flourish elsewhere and then seeing him excel at a rival club would undoubtedly be a tough pill to swallow.