Manchester United's midfielder Angel Gomes falls during the UEFA Europa League Group L football match against Astana (Getty Images)
According to the Metro, Chelsea are interested in signing Manchester United youngster Angel Gomes on a free transfer at the end of the season.
Salford-raised Angel Gomes, 19, is approaching the final three months of his contract. He has been offered a new contract £25,000-a-week by Manchester United, but the teenager’s representatives are unconvinced and haven’t yet shown willingness that the midfielder will sign on the dotted lines, the Metro claims.
United academy graduates Chong, Mason Greenwood, Brandon Williams, James Garner, and Ethan Laird have all signed new contracts over the last year. Now, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and co. are desperate to keep hold of Gomes, who has made just six appearances so far this campaign.
However, there is growing impatience from the 19-year-old midfielder’s side and Chelsea are keen to take advantage of that situation, the report adds.
Chelsea were handed a two-window ban by Fifa in February 2019 for breaching rules on signing young players. While the transfer ban was reduced in December, the Blues were not allowed to sign players during the summer window. However, it would be wrong to suggest Frank Lampard hasn’t had any new players to work with.
Christian Pulisic might have been signed from Borussia Dortmund in January 2019 but he officially joined the Blues last summer. In addition, Chelsea officials took advantage of a clause in Mateo Kovacic’s loan from Real Madrid to turn that into a permanent deal.
Ideally, the ban forced Lampard to look at what he already had at Stamford Bridge for the 2019/20 season. The Chelsea boss has shown his willingness and patience to blood youngsters, with academy graduates such as Mason Mount, Tammy Abraham, Reece James and Fikayo Tomori enjoying their breakthrough campaigns at Stamford Bridge.
Billy Gilmour is the latest youngster to break into the Blues’ first-team. He has taken English football by storm after putting in back-to-back man-of-the-match performances in his last two appearances for the south Londoners.
The teenager is slowly becoming a favourite among the Stamford Bridge faithful, and there are already calls for him to become a full international for Scotland after being called up to the under-21s again earlier this week.
With Chelsea signing Hakim Ziyech from Ajax last month, it is pretty clear that the club is planning for the future under Lampard. That being said, Lampard must urge the board to snap up Angel Gomes from United in the summer.
Gomes is a richly talented player in United’s academy but he has found limited opportunities under Solskjaer when compared to the likes of Chong, Greenwood and Williams. Interestingly, he made his senior United debut in May 2017 when he not only became the youngest player to represent the club in almost 65 years (16 years, 263 days) but also the first Premier League player born in the 2000s. The midfielder is yet to score for the Red Devils senior team in 12 appearances.
Predominantly an attacking midfielder, Gomes can operate down the left or as one of the advanced midfielders in a trio, meaning Lampard could use his versatility. The England U-19 international is a talented player with massive potential, thus, Chelsea must do everything possible to sign him.
