New England star Angel Gomes is good enough to play for Real Madrid, Barcelona or Manchester City, but would not benefit from a return to Manchester United, according to his former Red Devils academy coach Nicky Butt.
The Lille midfielder made a strong impression when he made his first senior start for England against Finland earlier this week. He is out of contract this summer and is already reported to be on the wanted list of a number of Premier League clubs, including Newcastle.
Butt, who was the head of United’s academy when Gomes signed his first professional contract in 2017, believes the 24-year-old is destined for even bigger things than that.
“I think he can do better than some of the teams that will be in for him in the Premier League,” Butt told the PA news agency.
“The Spanish league is written all over for Angel. He could play in the Premier League easily. He could play for City tomorrow.
“When Angel left United (in 2020), I said to him ‘you’re going to go on and have an unbelievable career and I wouldn’t be surprised if you end up playing against Manchester United for Barcelona or Real Madrid in the next five, six, seven years’, because he was that good. And I’m not just saying that now that he’s made his England debut, I genuinely thought that a long time ago.
“He could play in the Premier League easily. He could play for City tomorrow. But then you put him in at Man United at the minute and he’s got to have the legs to go through the centre of midfield where there’s a massive gap, people run through the Man United midfield like you wouldn’t believe. Then it’s a really difficult game for him.”
Butt has teamed up with former United team-mate Paul Scholes for a new podcast, “Football’s Greatest: Eras”, where the pair speak in depth about their experiences as part of Sir Alex Ferguson’s all-conquering side. The eight-part series will launch on Wednesday.
While Butt and Scholes were able to progress into the first team, Butt believes a lack of physicality meant Gomes has had to take a more scenic route to the top.
Gomes became the first player born in the 21st century to feature in the Premier League when he made his United debut in May 2017, but that was one of just five substitute appearances he made in the league for the Red Devils. He joined Lille in August 2020 and was immediately loaned out to Portuguese side Boavista for the 2020-21 season.
He has established himself as a key player at Lille, and registered eight Ligue 1 assists last season, the joint second highest tally in the division.
“He’s a brave lad, his work ethic is great, his attitude is second to none, he ticks all the boxes,” Butt added.
“But at that time, when we needed somebody to come in from the youth team or be bought in, it was all about physicality. But you knew for a fact he was going to go on and have an unbelievable career wherever he went.”
Scholes too was full of praise for Gomes, adding: “It is brave to leave and go to a foreign country – I couldn’t imagine me doing it.
“He’s had to establish himself over there. There will be bigger clubs after him now.”
Butt revealed Gomes had sent him a ‘thank you’ text ahead of his England bow.
“I think he was messaging a lot of people, he’s just a lovely lad,” Butt said.
“It was just ‘Thanks, this debut is down to a lot of people, and you’re one of them’. It was really nice. He sent that to every single coach he worked with at United and everywhere else, it wasn’t just me.”
:: Nicky Butt and Paul Scholes’ new podcast “Football’s Greatest: Eras” launches on Wednesday.
