Why Gomez, Ramazani left Man Utd, ex-teammate Thornley reveals

Former Manchester United winger Ben Thornley has opened up on why Angel Gomes and Largie Ramazani left the club last week.

Gomes rejected new terms tabled by United and is now a free agent after coming off contract at the end of June.

United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had made it clear he wished for Gomes to stay, but the England U20 international has decided his future lies elsewhere. Gomes had been with United since he was six years of age.

Thornley, who like Gomes came through the youth system at United, wrote in his column for Tribalfootball.com: "He was in the same position that I was in. His contract came to an end and the club obviously wanted to keep him, but he had ambitions to want to go and play, which you can completely understand when you are coming into your early 20's. The decision doesn't come as a surprise to me that he has opted to go and seek first-team football elsewhere.

"He is a talented player but it has quickly become apparent in these opening four games that Gomes, along with (Tahith) Chong, (James) Garner and (Dylan) Levitt, admittedly they're a little bit younger, but they've not even appeared in the squad or on the bench, it's only really (Mason) Greenwood and (Brandon) Williams, so that just shows what an uphill fight that they've got to break into the squad, let alone get into the team."

Another to depart United last week was Largie Ramazani. A tricky winger who was originally brought to the club from Charlton Athletic, Ramazani made his first team debut this season in the Champions League against Astana.

The attacker is a Belgium youth international and while there's no doubting his talent and potential, Thornley can understand United allowing him to leave.

The MUTV pundit revealed: "Largie Ramazani is another very talented player, but I'm not altogether certain that his attitude from time to time was not an issue for the coaching staff at Manchester United.

"I can't be 100 per cent about what aspects, but there are always rumblings that come out of clubs and as talented as Largie is, and I've seen him play and score some wonderful goals, and he is good enough to play in United's first-team, his overall demeanour and attitude was what ultimately swayed the club to make that decision that he was going to leave."

Tribal Football