Transfer News: Angel Gomes joins Lille from Manchester United

Angel Gomes has officially ended his time at Manchester United, joining Lille on a free transfer, with the Ligue 1 outfit loaning him to Boavista for the 2020/21 season.

As reported by The Sun, Angel Gomes has completed his move away from Manchester United, whom he left last month. The English wonderkid has completed a free transfer to LOSC Lille, with the Ligue 1 outfit immediately loaning him out to Portuguese club Boavista for the 2020/21 season.

Angel Gomes joined Manchester United as a six-year-old. He subsequently made rapid progress in the youth setup at the English club, impressing at every age group level while also making a mark at the Under-17 World Cup in India in 2017.

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It’s took me a while because it’s not been easy to put my emotions into words. Sadly the time has come to end a beautiful chapter that has been my life for 14 years. Being from Salford, Manchester United is all I have ever known. I went from playing on my estate, pretending to be Wayne Rooney to being in the academy And doing the same. May 21st 2017 I made my premier league debut for the club of my dreams aged 16 replacing the legend himself ‘Wayne Rooney’. I want to thank every single individual at the club for the help and encouragement I received, from the very first time I signed at the club. I want to thank all the coaches from every age group that looked after me from 6 to now. To all the kit men, Kath the receptionist, The media team, the security, the staff at the cliff, the staff at Littleton road, the staff at Carrington to the cleaners, you all played a part in getting me to where I am today. It is time I take the next step in my career, I hope you can all be proud off what I go on to achieve. I wish the club and everyone involved the best of luck, you will all be missed more than you can imagine. I also want to thank the fans, your SUPPORT hasn’t gone unnoticed. Once a RED always a RED ??? UTID Angel Gomes

A post shared by Angel Gomes (@angel.gomes10) on Aug 4, 2020 at 7:55am PDT

As for Manchester United, the player made his first-team debut at the end of the 2016/17 season when he became the first player born in this century to make their senior bow for the Red Devils. Since then, though, opportunities in the first-team setup have been few and far between.

Gomes particularly failed to impress Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who, to his credit, has given plenty of opportunities to youngsters this term. Gomes managed to turn out for the Manchester United first-team just six times and a sum total of a mere 291 minutes.

Having struggled to make a mark at Old Trafford in the current campaign and with game time coming at a premium, speculation over his Manchester United future started growing like wildfire. With the player in the final year of his contract with the record 20-time Premier League champions, there was a sense that he could leave on a free transfer.

While the two parties were engaged in negotiations over a new contract for quite some time, other clubs started taking an interest in him. Chelsea, in particular, were linked with Gomes over a free transfer, although a move never materialised.

Meanwhile, a contract renewal never came and Gomes’s deal at Manchester United ran out last month. Where he would end up next then became a matter of speculation and it has now emerged that the 19-year-old has secured his future, joining Lille. The French club have immediately loaned him out to Portuguese outfit Boavista for the entirety of the 2020/21 season.

Gomes, meanwhile, posted an emotional message for the Manchester United fans upon sealing his departure, talking about Wayne Rooney and his support for the club, among other things. Now, though, it is time for a new phase of his career and it remains to be seen if he can kick on in his senior career after leaving Manchester United.