Former Manchester United youngster Angel Gomes has admitted he would "love to" return to the Premier League club one day.
Gomes, 22, joined United as a six-year-old but was released in June 2020 with 10 first-team appearances to his name by then manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. He was viewed as one of the club's best prospects, winning their Young Player of the Year award in 2016/17, but opted against signing a new contract to further his career elsewhere.
The former England youth international has since established himself as a regular at French side Lille, breaking into the first-team after a loan spell at Portuguese outfit Boavista during the 2020/21 campaign. He's played 12 Ligue 1 games this term, scoring once.
"It was a very difficult decision," Gomes told French outlet L'Equipe when asked about his United exit. "In my heart, I wanted to leave, in my head I was thinking of staying. But I had to follow my heart. I felt that I needed to take another step in my career.
"I felt that, had I stayed, there wouldn’t be a lot of opportunities for me. Luis Campos [Lille's then sporting director] and Lille spoke about their project and I believed in it even more, that’s what convinced me to move - the faith Lille had in me.
"Do I imagine myself coming back one day? Obviously, it’s home. I would love to come back. But you never know in football. I just have to keep my feet on the ground, and keep playing, making the most of it. I can’t predict what will happen in the future."
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Gomes captained England to the U17 World Cup in India five years ago. The midfielder started from the bench in the 5-2 victory against Spain in the final but was brought on by then manager Steve Cooper.
Solskjaer was hopeful Gomes would sign a new contract. Just days before the player's contract expired, the Norwegian told reporters: "Angel is a top kid we've had at the club for so many years. We've offered him a deal and hopefully he'll take that and if not I wish him all the best. From what I understand it's not too far away – if not we'll wish him all the best."
Then, on the eve of Gomes' exit, Solskjaer said: "I’ve got no news [on the contract talks], nothing, so it doesn’t look like it... To be honest, I’ve not heard from them last night or this morning. So it seems like that they haven’t managed to agree [a deal], so the answer is probably short and yes [he will leave] then."
Gomes was given his debut by Solskjaer's predecessor Jose Mourinho in May 2017, aged 16. The Portuguese once gave the youngster a dressing down during his time at Old Trafford.
"I've never actually told this story before but one time, he took me to a cup game with the first team after I'd played with the U21s," Gomes told Sport Bible in June. "We were at the dinner table and he's come around speaking to everyone. He then looks at me and says, 'I am f***ed with you!'
"At the time he was having a laugh with everyone, so I thought he was joking with me. I asked why and he brought up my performance from the day before. He must have thought I'd played s***. I didn't think I played that badly but he's the big boss, so if he thought I'd played bad, I'd played bad."
