Angel Gomes' next transfer decision is obvious amid Man Utd, Liverpool & Newcastle interest

Angel Gomes has been flying under the radar of most English football fans for a while, but now that the former Manchester United academy player has emerged blinking into the limelight after earning his first two caps for the national team, we’ll be hearing a lot more about him – and according to new reports, we could be seeing him in Premier League action very soon indeed.

The Metro is among a number of outlets carrying reports that a string of top-flight teams are tracking the Lille midfielder’s Ligue 1 career, including Newcastle United, Liverpool and his former employers at Old Trafford - given that his current contract is entering its final year, it seems more than likely that he’ll be making a big move very soon indeed. The question is which path the player himself should take, given that he will not be short of offers.

Solid displays as a substitute against the Republic of Ireland and then as a starter at Wembley for the visit of Finland showed England supporters some what Gomes can do. A fine, composed passer with a good first touch and rock-steady technique, he recycled possession efficiently and intelligently throughout and demonstrated why he’s such a useful player in possession – but we didn’t necessarily see the full range of his skills.

Gomes’ passing range, for instance, is much broader than was evidenced by the game against Finland and he’s a genuine creative force, getting the ball forward dangerously and with regularity – on average, he created 3.7 shots per match over the past year, a very good mark for a genuine central midfielder.

He’s also a fine ball-carrier who can confidently navigate opposing pressing units and is willing to bring the ball forward into the final third, breaking the lines and creating overloads upfield. He isn’t a natural goalscorer or the man to apply the final touch, but teams who want a player who is supremely capable in possession in all manner of different circumstances should surely have him down as a transfer option. But that doesn’t mean he’d be a perfect match for every team in the Premier League.

Would he, for instance, be such a great fit for Eddie Howe’s Newcastle? They’re short on depth at midfield so their interest is very understandable, but it may be an awkward scheme fit, for all that Gomes is a gifted all-round midfielder who can pass and run with the ball quite happily.

Where Gomes’ game is lacking is in his work off the ball. Howe expects his midfield to shuttle up and down the pitch quickly, pressing hard and looking to force turnovers in advanced areas. That simply isn’t where the 24-year-old excels. He averaged exactly four turnovers and 0.8 successful tackles per game in the league for Lille last year – to contextualise that, Bruno Guimarães, the archetype and apex of the Howe midfielder, won 6.4 turnovers each game and made three times as many tackles.

In other words, Gomes is very good on the ball but not necessarily the best at winning it, and teams who prioritise putting consistent pressure on the ball wouldn’t be the most natural fit for him – the same, for instance, would be true of Tottenham Hotspur, who aren’t mentioned in the Metro article but come up in connection with a move elsewhere, and perhaps Liverpool, who also have a lot of depth in midfield right now.

His boyhood club, Manchester United, might make the most sense for him of the teams that have been mentioned so far – not least because he has said in the past that he would “love to” go back to the club where he kicked his career off. Even leaving sentimental logic aside, however, it could be a good idea to go back to where it all started, at least if the strategy that Erik ten Hag current employs remains in place.

United don’t look to press hard from midfield and instead drop players like Casemiro and Kobbie Mainoo deeper by default to screen the defence, but one of the problems that has created is that the midfielders need to do a lot when they win possession – either dribble a long way or hit precise direct passes to get the ball forward to the four most attacking players as quickly as possible. That sounds like an assignment that Gomes can handle.

A massive 77.3% completion rate on long passes last season is a testament to how good he is at getting the ball from back to front quickly, something United have simply not been very good at under Ten Hag despite playing with a system which requires it. Any new United midfielder in this set-up needs to be comfortable with the ball in tight spots and good at getting it up to the final third at speed, and that should be something Gomes does brilliantly.

United will almost certainly be in the market for midfield reinforcements next summer given uncertainty over the long-term futures of Casemiro and Christian Eriksen, and while young Toby Collyer is rated highly he won’t be enough to plug the hole those two will leave in the squad on his own. Gomes and Mainoo could easily be a fine playmaking midfield that can get the ball forward effectively – one a fine direct passer and the other an excellent dribbler. The only question is whether that is a strong enough defensive screen as a double pivot. Many managers would want a stronger tackler than Gomes in such a situation.

Wherever he ends up, Gomes’ future looks bright. He has plenty of talent and now the experience and composure to use it well. He just needs to make sure he moves to a club that makes the most of what he can do – and that could easily be the same club he played for as a child.