‘Everything’s been worth it’: Angel Gomes revels in journey to England call-up

So, Angel Gomes, what about a return to the Premier League? It felt logical to ask the question and the Lille midfielder, fresh from his surprise England call-up for the Nations League ties against Republic of Ireland and Finland and with all of the attendant trimmings it has brought for his profile, did not exactly rule it out.

Yes, he has had approaches, the 24-year-old admitted. “But I believe that everything will happen naturally and in its own time,” he said. “I am really chilled. If it was to come up, that would make sense. You never know in football …”

Yet this is not a story about coming back – certainly not at the moment. Rather the going‑away‑in-the-first-place bit, Gomes’s departure from Manchester United, where he had long enjoyed wonderkid status, and a remarkable career reboot.

Related: How Angel Gomes went from United ‘wonderkid’ to deadly playmaker

When he joined Lille as a free agent in 2020 and immediately went on loan to Boavista in Portugal for the season, the idea of a senior England call-up had to feel fanciful. He was incredibly down at the time, describing it as his “hardest point”. And the more he talked at his first press conference as a member of the England squad, the more it became apparent why.

It was not only leaving United, where he had been since the age of six – the death of a dream – but the fear and uncertainty over what lay ahead. At least Gomes spoke the language; his father, Gil, a former footballer, is Portuguese. Gil won the Under-20 World Cup with Portugal, playing with Luís Figo. Otherwise for Gomes, it was a leap of faith.

“It was going into the unknown,” he says. “I never knew how it was going to go and going to Lille afterwards … learning a new language, adapting to a new country, adapting to the football … it was a very difficult time for me.”

Gomes told himself that if he dug in, if he concentrated on the small steps, then the bigger ones, such as a full England call-up, would take care of themselves. But in the background was the frustration of what he might have had.

When he came on as a substitute for United against Crystal Palace in May 2017, replacing Wayne Rooney, he became the club’s youngest debutant since Duncan Edwards.

Gomes was aged 16 years and 263 days but it seemed so normal, given where he was at that point, the intensity of the hype around him. He had made his debut for United’s under-18s as a 14‑year‑old. At 15, he scored a hat-trick for that team and at the end of 2016-17 he was named the club’s young player of the year – the youngest recipient of the award.

And yet it did not happen for Gomes over the following three seasons, under first José Mourinho then Ole Gunnar Solskjær, a total of 10 United appearances a source of deep frustration. An indictment too, perhaps, of the club’s inability to nurture and develop the one‑time jewel of their academy. Gomes simply used it as fuel.

“Leaving England gave me a big motivation. There were also players that I played with in France that were going to their national teams. It gave me the motivation to know that just because I’m playing in a different league, I can still get to where I want to get to.

“When I left [United], it was to better myself as a player and as a person through a journey and I knew eventually that I’d be able to create a pathway. It’s been an upwards trajectory [since Boavista], also with a lot of difficult moments. But being in this position now makes everything worth it.”

Gomes cites the influence of Paulo Fonseca, his manager at Lille between 2022 and 2024, as decisive; Fonseca saw that he could play as a deeper-lying midfielder as well as a No 10. His manager at Boavista, Vasco Seabra, was also huge for him, restoring his belief. And then there is Lee Carsley, with whom he built such a strong relationship with the England Under-21s, which has now been reprised at senior level, Carsley giving him the call in his first selection as the interim manager.

The pair won the European Under-21 Championship in the summer of last year and it was after the semi-final against Israel that Carsley said Gomes would one day become a coach. “Probably yeah,” Gomes said. “I can’t hide that I like that side of the game. I like to think I am a big thinker and it is something I will probably go on to do when I finish playing.”

Related: Lee Carsley praises England’s era of calm youngsters bursting into squad

Gomes is defined not only by his technique but his intuitive reading of the game, which makes light of the fact that he enters the midfield battle zone at just 5ft 6in. With Jude Bellingham, Cole Palmer and Phil Foden ruled out by injury and illness, the prospect of Gomes enjoying a debut over the next week has increased.

Gomes was eligible for Portugal and was asked whether there were any moves from them to secure his allegiance at senior level. Maybe from his father? Or his godfather, Nani, the former Portugal and United winger? The connection with Nani stemmed from the relationship that his father had with Carlos Queiroz; he played under him at youth level for Portugal. After Gil moved to Manchester in 2001 to play for Middlewich Town, then Salford and Hyde, he reconnected with Queiroz, who worked at United as the assistant manager.

There have been conversations, Gomes admits. But the goal has always been England, for whom he has played at every youth level from under-16; he captained the under-17s to World Cup glory in 2017. The final step beckons.