Manchester United attacking midfielder in England World Cup Squad
By Jake Knox
England U-17 head coach Steve Cooper has named Manchester United’s attacking midfielder Angel Gomes in his squad for the upcoming U-17 World Cup in India.
Angel Gomes is widely expected to add to his seven existing Under-17 caps by captaining the England in their opening game on Sunday, October 8.
The attacking midfielder already has four goals for Cooper’s side having scored against Belgium, Croatia and Germany.
Gomes previously missed Englands successful UEFA Under-17 Championship in the summer through injury.
Angel Gomes
While not yet a household name, Gomes has already made an appearance in the Premier League on May 21 earlier this year.
In doing so the creative midfielder became the first player born in the 2000’s to play in the league. This feat is even more impressive when you consider he was 16 years and 263 days old at the time.
He also became the youngest player to represent Manchester United since the legendary Duncan Edwards in 1953.
History
Angel Gomes, real name Adilson Angel Abreu de Almeida Gomes, joined the United academy at the age of six.
He then went on to sign his first formal contract at the age of 13.
In October 2013 he represented the under-17s on trial and then signed for the club in May 2014.
Gomes was named the MVP at the Manchester United Premier Cup in July 2015.
He recently scored the winner for United’s U19s against CSKA with a sublime freekick.
Barcelona are understood to be closely monitoring the Gomes. With a year left on his current deal time will soon tell if they will make a move.
According to The Sun Gomes was offered his first professional contract on his seventeenth birthday last month.
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Should the deal remain unsigned he could leave at the end of the season with his fee set by a tribunal.
This would be disastrous for United as great things are expected for the promising young starlet.
The situation is very similar to that which led to Paul Pogba’s departure to Juventus in 2012. Although much of this was apparently down to a clash between super agent Mino Raiola and Sir Alex Ferguson.
Gomes is clearly a talent and has been likened to both Ronaldinhio and Paul Scholes in the past.
With great awareness on the ball and a range of dribbling abilities, it’s clear to see why.
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Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho will undoubtedly be keeping a keen eye on Gomes’s progress in the competition. While Manchester United fans will be expecting to see more of Gomes in the coming months.