Joao Gomes starred in Brazil’s victory over England at Wembley (Picture: Getty)
Micah Richards has heaped praise on Manchester United transfer target Joao Gomes and says the Wolves midfielder is ‘going to the top’.
Gomes only arrived at Wolves in January 2023 but the 23-year-old is already viewed as one of the most promising midfielders in the Premier League.
His form at Molineux resulted in a call-up to the Brazil squad for this international break and he made his debut in Saturday’s 1-0 win over England at Wembley.
Gomes was one of only four outfield players who played the entire match for Brazil and ex-England defender Richards was impressed by his performance.
‘We have to give a quick shoutout to Gomes of Wolves,’ the Manchester City hero said on the Rest is Football podcast. ‘Oh my word, what a player he is by the way.
‘I didn’t have the team-sheet and I didn’t have my glasses on and I was thinking, “who’s this guy?” I couldn’t even see until I got my glasses on but Gomes, he is a player by the way.
Micah Richards was impressed by the Manchester United target (Picture: Getty)
‘Obviously, we don’t get to see Wolves too much on TV. We see them on Match of the Day.
‘Seeing him up close and personal, his touches, his anticipation when he’s winning the ball back and his weight of ball forward. Sorry Wolves fans, he’s going to the top that lad.’
Gomes arguably fits the specifications for the type of player Manchester United will look to sign this summer under new minority shareholder Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who says he will avoid established world-class names and target the next generation of stars instead.
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‘What I would rather do, I would rather find the next Mbappe, rather than spend a fortune to just try and buy success,’ he said on the Geraint Thomas Cycling Club podcast.
‘It’s not that clever, is it? Buying Mbappe. In a way. Anyone could figure that one out. But what is much more challenging is to find the next Mbappe or the next [Jude] Bellingham or the next Roy Keane.’
Expanding on his vision for Manchester United, the INEOS chief added: ‘The solution isn’t spending a lot of money on a couple of great players. They’ve done that over the last 10 years.
‘The first thing we need to do is get the right people in the right boxes who are managing and organising the club and make sure we get recruitment right. It’s such a vital part of running a football club today, finding new players.
New United chief Sir Jim Ratcliffe (Picture: Getty)
‘You need the right organisation structure. In the days of Sir Alex Ferguson, he was the manager. We don’t have managers today, we have a coach. And the coach would report to a sporting director and they would report to the chief executive.
‘You need to figure out where you put recruitment and strategy, you need to get your organisation right and then populate it with people who are best in class.
‘It’s not a light switch at Man Utd, it’s a much longer road to travel, because there’s so many aspects of that club and that game that you need to get right.’
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