Angel Gomes has revealed that Jose Mourinho nearly reduced him to tears with an expletive-laden dressing down in front of the Manchester United squad. The newly-capped England star was handed his senior debut by Mourinho aged just 16 but needed some tough love to realise his potential.
Gomes became United’s youngest player since Duncan Edwards when he appeared on the final day of the 2016-17 season. The hype around the diminutive midfielder soared after he replaced club icon Wayne Rooney in a 2-0 win over Crystal Palace.
But not long later, Gomes was left on the brink of tears after Mourinho expressed his displeasure with his performance in a reserve match. The Portuguese coach wanted a reaction from the then-teenager, who felt it was unfair to conduct such a scolding in front of a star-studded audience.
Gomes told the Times: “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. At the time I was thinking, ‘Why has he done that in front of everyone? Could he not have pulled me to the side?’
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“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.”
Despite the astronomical expectations, Gomes’ senior United career lasted just 320 minutes. He made only nine more appearances after his debut. But it was Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, not Mourinho, who prompted him to move on.
Gomes’ contract at Old Trafford was coming to an end in 2020 and despite interest in new terms from United and from Spaniard giants Barcelona, the now-24-year-old prioritised game time at Lille. Solskjaer wanted Gomes to go on loan but the academy graduate felt there was no plan for him to develop at his boyhood club.
He continued: “It was the most difficult period of my career. 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. In the last six months, I just wanted it to end really.”
Gomes has excelled at Lille, making 123 appearances for the French club. His form earned him a senior England debut in September and there is strong interest from Premier League clubs.
