I coached Angel Gomes at Manchester United, he was always the best player at every age group

There aren't many times where Manchester United have got it wrong when it comes to letting academy prospects leave the club. However, Angel Gomes' remarkable ascent to England's first-team will pose questions of 'what night have been?'

The former United academy graduate made ten senior appearances for the Red Devils before leaving the club in 2020 for Ligue 1 side Lille after failing to agree terms over a new contract. After an impressive loan spell with Portuguese side Boavista, Gomes returned to the French club and has established himself as one of the first names on the team sheet.

Last season, the former Red Devils prospect notched up the second most assists in Ligue 1 and was called up to England's senior squad for the first time under interim boss Lee Carsley. Gomes came off the bench in the recent 2-0 win over the Republic of Ireland to earn his first cap and his former United coach believes it's just the first of many.

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Paul McGuiness - son of former Manchester United boss Wilf McGuiness - was among a number of coaches to have helped develop Gomes during his time at Old Trafford, regularly playing the promising talent at age groups much older than his own. A former Red Devils academy talent himself, McGuiness was a coach with United's U18s side and recalls coming across Gomes as a 12-year-old and early comparisons with a certain Paul Scholes.

"I would be one of the coaches, amongst a lot of them, where we'd mix the age groups," McGuiness told Manchester Evening News in an exclusive interview. "From the age of about 12, he was