by tim-sanchez » Mon Oct 05, 2020 8:46 pm
BORN in the Senegalese capital and raised in Lanzarote, there were probably more obvious routes into professional football for Carlos Mendes Gomes than the English fourth tier with Morecambe.
The exciting attacker was only 19 when he signed his first Shrimps deal in 2018, but arrived with an intriguing track record and an incredible variety of football experiences.
From lining up opposite current Inter Milan star Achraf Hakimi while at the Atletico Madrid academy, to being granted an eye-opening introduction to the English men’s game with Non-League West Didsbury & Chorlton, Mendes Gomes believes each experience shaped him.
Now an established member of Derek Adams’ squad, the 21-year-old still remembers his humble beginnings and has always lived in the belief that hard work would eventually bear fruit.
Opportunities
“I moved to Spain from Senegal with my parents when I was two years old,” he explained. “My dad got a job over there and they decided there would be better opportunities in life. “My family had always loved football and I was the same. I supported Real Madrid and would spend all my time watching Cristiano Ronaldo and dreaming one day of being like him.
“I played for Getafe for one season and then got given the chance to join Atletico when I was 15. The standard was incredible and I think one year there really shaped me as a player, physically and mentally.
“Then, my dad got offered a job in Manchester. I didn’t want to go but I was too young to stay on my own. He told me I could become a footballer anywhere in the world as long as I put in the work, so I trusted him and gave it my best.”
Mendes Gomes initially struggled to adapt on and off the field in the UK and admits a career in football looked unlikely.
But having persevered in the North West Counties League with West Didsbury & Chorlton and impressed at the Nicholls Community Football Centre of Excellence – part of The Manchester College, where he was studying – it wasn’t long before Morecambe came knocking.
He said: “I didn’t play football at all during my first year in England – I couldn’t find a club. I rang around but I’d arrived at the wrong time of year when all the scholarships were full.
“It was never my plan to get into professional football through college, but one of the coaches – Bill Prendergast – believed in me and had a link with Morecambe.
“Part of the decision to sign me depended on whether they got relegated on the last day of the (2017-18) season. Thankfully, they stayed up and offered me a deal – it was such a special day.”
Special
After spending most of the last decade in the lower echelons of League Two, Morecambe have started the new campaign brightly – winning two of their opening three league games in Adams’ first full season in charge.
And while he hadn’t heard of the Lancashire coastal town when he first moved to the UK five years ago, Mendes Gomes is aiming high in the place he now considers home.
“We haven’t had too much luck recently, but I believe with this group of players we’re capable of pushing for the playoffs,” added Mendes Gomes, who netted a stoppage-time winner against Cheltenham on the opening day. “Personally, I just want to keep improving, nail down a starting spot and start scoring more goals.
“I hadn’t heard of Morecambe before I came to England but now it’ll always have a place in my heart. The fans have always been very supportive and they are my family too now.”