Former Manchester United star Angel Gomes has lifted the lid on his reunion with Marcus Rashford and his decision to leave the Reds and move to French side Lille.
Gomes was part of the England Under-21 side that beat the Czech Republic 2-0 in their first Euro 2023 finals game on Thursday, enjoying his new role as a deep-lying midfielder. The 22-year-old has been playing more regular football since joining Lille in 2020.
Gomes hasn't had much chance to keep in touch with his former United teammates but was given the opportunity to reunite with Rashford - three years his senior - when England's Under-21s recently trained alongside the senior side.
"It’s funny," Gomes told the Daily Mail. "Marcus was asking, 'do you not find it boring?'. You can’t attack.” I said that no, I don’t, but if I had your pace and attributes then I would!
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"Believe it or not, he was a number six for a short period when he was growing, a couple of games around the Under-15s or 16s."
After developing into a promising young attacking midfielder during his time in United's academy, Gomes took the plunge and joined Lille in the summer of 2020, spending his first season on loan at Portuguese club Boavista. In his three years away from English football, the youngster has developed into a deep-lying playmaker.
Gomes has matured with the regular first-team football that was promised to him overseas, playing 69 times for Lille across all competitions over the last two campaigns.
"I’ve been a key player for the team, I’ve been able to play and impose myself on the majority of the games," he added. "You’d be surprised, it’s quite similar to England.
"People always ask me about the physicality over there and it is very physical. I can’t compare it to the Premier League because that’s where the money is at, where teams can invest, but France as a league is very strong."
