Angel Gomes was close to tears when Jose Mourinho told him his level was below Manchester United, but he could now make a remarkable return.
Though he joined the Red Devils at six, Gomes couldn’t cap off his rise through the Carrington ranks with a consistent starting XI berth, and he was released under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer four years ago, moving to Lille.
Yet, a swift loan move to Boavista boosted his shot confidence, and, returning to the French outfit a year later, Gomes' gamble to leave English soil paid insurmountable dividends, with Lee Carsley giving the England U21 star his first team debut in September.
Now, reports suggest that nearly half a decade after his departure, 24-year-old Gomes could be in line for a shock return to Manchester, with new boss Ruben Amorim said to be keen.
According to The Sun, Lille’s Gomes, whose contract expires at the end of this campaign, so would not fetch a hefty fee, is now a major target for United and has long been admired by newcomer Amorim.
Should Gomes return to the Red Devils’ midfield, it would begin a journey started in his infancy and redeem the heartbreak he felt when his contract was left to expire in 2020.
Talking to the Times, Gomes opened up about the struggles of being told he wouldn't cut it at United and Mourinho’s cruel dismissal of him.
“He didn’t think I had played up to standard [in a reserves match] to warrant a place in the first-team squad, and he just really let me know,” Gomes admitted. “At the time, I was thinking, ‘Why has he done that in front of everyone? Could he not have pulled me to the side?’
“A few of the players came up to me and said, ‘He just wants a reaction from you, don’t let it faze you’, but in that moment I didn’t want to hear anything. I rushed to my room and rang my dad and my brother. There’s not much they could say to me really. I was almost crying. I was really young.
“It wasn’t until I was older that I realised, with Mourinho, he’s always looking at ways to get more out of you. I think him doing that in front of everyone showed he valued me as a player. I probably needed it.”
Gomes cited his release from United as the most difficult time of his young career – something he could look to make right should he stage a comeback.
“It was the most difficult period of my career,” Gomes added. “On the pitch, off the pitch, I didn’t know what was going on. I spoke to [Solskjaer]. I spoke to the assistants as well because [assistant manager] Kieran McKenna had been my under-18s coach. It just felt like they wanted me to stay and go with the flow. They wanted me to go on loan but there wasn’t really much in place.
“I felt that after being there my whole life in the academy, there would have been more of a plan for me to progress. That was the hardest pill to swallow.”
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