With Jesse Lingard and Marcus Rashford leading the way, Manchester United may have another young English starlet on their hands in Angel Gomes.
The son of a former Portugal U20s footballer who ended up plying his trade in Salford, Gomes has been on the books of United since the age of 13.
He has been making waves at Old Trafford with his technical ability, Nicky Butt being the latest to wax lyrical about the 16-year-old saying that Gomes is the most talented prospect in their academy.
As can be seen in this short video, Gomes has the ability and the belief to pull off amazing feats of skill.
Not only that, but Gomes is a proven goalscorer at youth level. Last week, just days before turning 16, he scored a hat-trick for Manchester United U18s against Everton becoming one of the youngest players to do so, whilst he also scored this belter against Middlesbrough.
Let’s hope that Gomes continues on an upward trajectory and doesn’t follow the same fate as some of the other youngest scorers of hat-tricks for United’s U18 side (see Darnell Cole and Adnan Januzai, for example).
As a local talent, Gomes will be embraced fully by the United faithful. One of the big worries of the appointment of Jose Mourinho was the Portuguese manager’s supposed poor record of handling youth (Rashford’s winner against Hull was the first goal scored by a teenager in a Mourinho team).
Mourinho has a perceived youth problem
The sight of a teenager progressing through the academy and showing his potential will instil belief in the fans that United’s ethos of promoting from within and utilising youth has not been lost, and that United sides can still be made and not bought.
An example of this can be seen in the make-up of United’s team against Hull, with there being only two Englishmen in the starting line-up.
In comparison, the United side that defeated Arsenal 8-2 five years ago had six Englishmen (and one Northern Irishman) in the starting line-up – even though this occurred long after most of the other big sides’ “globalisations”.
If Gomes needs inspiration, look no further than Marcus Rashford
If players such as Gomes can follow on from Lingard and Rashford, and not befall the same fate as previous starlets such as Danny Welbeck and Tom Cleverley in leaving Old Trafford with a certain sense of ignominy, United and England will be all the better for it.
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