WHICH BARCELONA ICON INSPIRES ANGEL GOMES?

Manchester United midfielder Angel Gomes has named Andres Iniesta as the player he tries to emulate most while out on the pitch.

Spanish icon Iniesta, who is still playing in Japan for Vissel Kobe at the age of 36, was part of the formidable Barcelona side which overcame United in the 2009 and 2011 Champions League finals.

Gomes, who was 10 years old when the latter final was played, had his eye caught by the grace and vision of Iniesta, who won an incredible 32 major trophies with the Catalan giants.

“In terms of who I model parts of my game on, I’d say [Andres] Iniesta. He was always one of my idols,”Angel told us.

“[He was] a big player I watched while growing up. [He played] in similar positions as me and I’ve always tried modelling my game on Iniesta.”

Our 19-year-old has an eclectic taste when it comes to footballing influences, with a number of Brazilian and Argentinian players named among those he has loved watching.

Gomes also has fond memories of going to Old Trafford during the 2007/08 season, when a team including his famous godfather, Nani, clinched domestic and European glory.

“In terms of footballers when I was young it was always Ronaldinho, the Brazilian players, Robinho [plus Portuguese] Cristiano Ronaldo at the time.

“I remember the Joga Bonito stuff with the freestyling and stuff like that. As a youngster, all you wanted to do was practise skills, so I’d say players like Ronaldo [were my inspiration].

“I had an uncle, we used to go to his house. We’d sit and watch videos and he was quite old-school, so he’d show me players like [Diego] Maradona [and Juan Roman] Riquelme. I watched Thierry Henry growing up as well.

“Then obviously, when I was growing up at United, Nani had a big influence on me and when I was around eight years old, when I used to go and watch, it was that time when we had a great season and [we had Cristiano] Ronaldo and [Carlos] Tevez.

“All those players inspired me when I was growing up.”

Gomes has made six first-team appearances for United this season, and 10 in total.

In his ‘My Inspiration’ interview, which you can watch above in full, he also talked about his faith and how it fits in with his football.

“I’m religious, I’m a Christian, so I’ll pray before games and coming on to the pitch I’ll always pray,“ he revealed.

“In the back of my mind, I just think about my family really, and trying to make them proud. That will always be in the back of my mind.”