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The FIFA U17 World Cup is a big window for clubs around the world to identify potential future stars of the footballing world. This year as well, in India, young players were seen scouted by an assortment of clubs in the hope of picking the best of the lot. Angel Gomes had already been at a big club, Manchester United, at the time of the U17 World Cup's start and the young Red Devil has now been speculated to leave his club after lifting what was England's first ever FIFA U17 World Cup.
Gomes, England's captain at the World Cup, was expected to sign a contract with the Red Devils way back in August but has not put pen to paper yet. Furthermore, as pointed out by Give Me Sport, United midfielder Juan Mata had written a blog post that mentions Gomes as his former teammate, while the U17 star is still at the club.
That has fuelled speculations now that Gomes - who will be free to leave the club next summer if he doesn't sign a contract - is on his way out with clubs like Barcelona keen on the player. He'll be free to leave Manchester United next year for a nominal fee once he attains the age of 18.
The FIFA U17 World Cup win for England was crafted by a lot of players but Gomes isn't among them since he barely played. However, his quality shone through whenever he got playing time and his uncertain situation might well see the 17-year-old of Portuguese heritage move to pastures new next year.
European teams are blooding more and more young stars to their lineups, as shown by Hamburg when they brought on Jann-Fiete Arp to see him break a Bundesliga scoring record on Saturday. With such demand for world-class young players, options are aplenty for someone like Gomes and the FIFA U17 World Cup win has aided that further.
Interest in talented young players - as seen at India's U17 World Cup - are high these days owing to the ever-inflating transfer fees and despite playing little, someone like Gomes could now have a decision to make.
