How United Prodigy Gomes Used To Copy Nani

The 2017/18 season promises to be a big one for Manchester United Academy product Angel Gomes, who does not turn 17 until the end of August.

The teenager already has a first-team debut under his belt, with his late outing as a substitute against Crystal Palace in May making him the first player born since 2000 to appear in the Premier League.

It is a moment that Gomes still has to pinch himself about, being selected by Jose Mourinho to come on for Wayne Rooney at Old Trafford, in an exciting glimpse of the future for the 75,000 fans watching from the stands.

"That moment has been with me a long time," Angel told MUTV recently, at United's Reserves and Academy training camp in Obertraun, Austria.

"There are times when I am sat at home and I'll just be drifting away when I think of the game and how everything happened so quickly. It feels great to say that I am the club's youngest Premier League player."

Actually the youngest player in United's first team since the legendary Duncan Edwards in the 1950s, Gomes had a 2016/17 season to remember and rarely can anybody have had one campaign that was so diverse. The young midfielder also performed as a goalkeeper - when regular no.1 Ilias Moutha-Sebtaoui was injured, Gomes donned the gloves as the Reds won the Mercedes-Benz Junior Cup - and as an Old Trafford ball-boy, along with team-mate Aidan Barlow, for the Emirates FA Cup tie against Wigan Athletic.

"Yes, I was in goal in the indoor tournament we won in Germany and I was a ball-boy as well, in the FA Cup," he confirmed. "To go from being a ball-boy to coming on for Wayne Rooney was amazing. What a player to come on for. Wayne Rooney is a club legend who I think will do amazing [things] at Everton. He helped me and spoke to me, when I was coming on, so it was nice."

London-born Gomes revealed some details about his background, including his relationship with former United winger Nani and laughed as he remembered trying to copy the Euro 2016 winner's acrobatic celebrations as child.

"I'm a Salford lad at heart," he said. "I love being from Salford. It's where I grew up so I always say that's where I'm from. My dad [Gil Gomes] played at the Under-23 World Cup and is well known in Portugal as they won it and he played with some great players as well. It's nice to be following in his footsteps really.

"Nani is my godfather. He's been amazing to me and gives me lots of advice. I am just lucky to have someone like that in my life. When I was younger, he used to be my idol. I used to watch him and even practice his backflips on the trampoline. I know I can't do that now!"

As captain of England at youth levels, Gomes's potential has been clear for some time but the 16-year-old's feet remain firmly on the ground. From his interview with MUTV, it's obvious he has been brought up the Manchester United way and this will stand him in good stead.

"I've been here a long time," he said. "I started at the Under-6s and progressed up really. I used to play down [an age group] because of my height and physicality obviously but I was lucky to kick on since the Under-13s and it's been amazing.

"I think people forget how young I am really. Of course, it would be a great experience to get a few more minutes in the first team under my belt at some point but I'll just try to kick on in the Under-18s and Under-23s and learn a lot of things.

"I hope to gain a lot of experience in the UEFA Youth League, for example, and the Reserves have a new coach in Ricky [Sbragia] so it'll be great to work under him too."

"Last season, we played some high quality football, but didn't end up doing the ultimate thing of winning trophies. We want to win more this season."