United confirm Gomes has decided to quit Old Trafford

UNITED have confirmed that youngster Angel Gomes has decided to leave the club.

Gomes is one of 10 United players whose contract expired on June 30 but United were hoping to keep the 19-year-old.

United are understood to have submitted several contract offers to the player, though he and his representatives did not agree to sign an extension.

Despite becoming United’s youngest-ever player when he made his debut at just 16, the attacking midfielder has failed to establish himself in the starting XI and will now leave Old Trafford to develop his career elsewhere.

A statement from United read: “Manchester United can confirm that Angel Gomes has not taken up the offer of a new contract and has, therefore, left the club.

“The 19-year-old joined the Reds at a very young age and worked his way through the ranks before becoming the first player born in the 2000s to represent the first team, as a substitute for Wayne Rooney in the final game of the 2016/17 season, against Crystal Palace.

“It meant he became the youngest player since Duncan Edwards to make his senior debut for the club, soon after being awarded the Jimmy Murphy Young Player of the Year award.

“The attacking midfielder made 10 senior appearances in total for the Reds - three of them starts, which all came in this season’s Europa League.

“His final outing came in the 4-0 defeat of Norwich City at Old Trafford in the Premier League in January. Everybody at Manchester United would like to wish Angel the very best of luck for the future and thank him for his efforts for the club.”

Angel Gomes

FORMER United coach Rene Meulensteen believes the club should prioritise signing a new striker in the summer transfer window.

United are keen to bolster their attacking options at the end of the season with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer admitting a new striker will be considered.

M.E.N. Sport understand Borussia

Dortmund winger Jadon Sancho remains the priority target ahead of the summer window, but Meulensteen believes money could be better spent elsewhere on the pitch.

The former United first-team coach says United already have options out wide and would prefer to see a new forward in the same mould as Lewandowski brought in.

“They brought Ighalo in as a player who could help United in certain times and he’s actually done very, very well,” Meulensteen told talkSPORT.

“But if you look at the other players there – Rashford, Martial, they’re not really out-and-out strikers.

“Greenwood, a young player coming up, it’s the same thing there.

“A lot of chances and goals can be created from the wide areas, Sancho is actually the same player.

“What I think United are missing is a striker of the calibre of Robert Lewandowski. Somebody up there who can hold the line, link play, but when it comes to finishing chances in and outside the box, that sort of player, they are hard to come by.

“£50m for Sancho, is that too much? For me, looking at what United have in those wide areas, is that where you want to strengthen?”