Angel Gomes reveals 'weight of the shirt' issue hampering Man Utd stars
Angel Gomes played just 10 times for Manchester United's first team despite making his debut at 16, but the England international has excelled since moving to France
Former Manchester United youngster Angel Gomes believes the weight of the shirt may have stood in the way of some players succeeding for the Premier League club. United finished 16th in the league last season, and will not play in Europe in any capacity next term after losing the Europa League final, but some of their former stars have thrived away from Old Trafford.
Gomes is certainly one of that number, impressing at Lille and earning a summer switch to fellow Ligue 1 side Marseille. He will link up there with Mason Greenwood, the former United forward who scored a career-best 22 goals in all competitions last season.
Elsewhere in Europe, Scott McTominay enjoyed the best scoring season of his own career last term to help Napoli win Serie A. McTominay's former United team-mate Romelu Lukaku was also part of that title-winning squad, while former United players Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Alexis Sanchez and Matteo Darmian won the same competition with Inter Milan 12 months earlier.
""Players may have been intimidated or not really know about the weight, what it carries and what it takes," Gomes told BBC Sport. "But ultimately, sometimes, it's down to environment, timing and having the right things in place to help you.
"Some players who have left and gone on to do better than when they were at United, there might be things in place at that certain club, at that moment in time, that helped them succeed. Sometimes it's not as black and white as they failed or they've not held their own there because of the weight of the shirt."
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"It was obviously a difficult process because there are a lot of things that pull you towards staying," he added. "But then you have to think about what is right for your career. There were a lot of things I sacrificed."
Gomes thrived for England's Under-21s during his time at Lille, helping the team win the 2023 European Under-21 Championships under Carsley. He made his senior debut under the same manager at the age of 24, featuring in four of the Three Lions' six UEFA Nations League matches in the autumn of 2024.
“He’s a player that we’re probably not used to seeing in terms of that kind of player," Carsley said upon handing Gomes his first call-up. "But yet when we watched a Portugal team or a Spain team: ‘Ah, I really like that No.10. I really like him.’ We’ve got players like that within our pathway that need a chance.
“Angel has had to go to another country to get that. He was such a talent, they had such high hopes for him at Manchester United. He’s just had to find a different route to get to where he is. I expect him to go from strength to strength.”
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