Clearly unwanted at Everton by Frank Lampard, André Gomes went out on loan at Lille in France, where he appears to be growing in his role.
He was recently criticised, with some believing he might not stay beyond the current season, but his most recent performance against Strasbourg away has earned him a good amount of praise.
The Everton loanee has started the last two league games for Lille, which have both been wins and clean sheets, only for the 29-year-old to be taken off around the 75th minute.
He might not be at the peak of his fitness level still, but the Ligue 1 side have won all the games he’s started in, which is a trend they and the Toffees will want to see continue over the course of the next few weeks.
In fact, a couple of pundits in France, Kevin Diaz (a former footballer) and Jonatan MacHardy, have been impressed by what they’ve seen of the Everton midfielder.
The pair were talking about him on the After RMC, relayed by Le Petit Lillois, with the former stating: “André Gomes is solid. He had a very serious injury in the Premier League. It took him a while to come back, but he’s a very good pick. Paulo Fonseca and Olivier Létang worked well on that find.”
As for MacHardy, he said: “André Gomes isn’t the flashiest player, but he’s playing comfortably. He’s a real metronome. I’m quite surprised to see him at LOSC. He’s not even 30 years of age. When he arrived in Barcelona, he came from Valencia and was supposed to be one of the best midfielders in the league.
“He’s not the fastest. I find it hard to understand the Premier League, because in France, when he plays so comfortably like that, he has a vision of the game that is superlative. He’s a player of European level.”
Since arriving from Everton, the midfielder has made six appearances in the league for Lille, but has yet to impact the game with an assist or a goal.
