Ten things you need to know about André Gomes
Get acquainted with the Portuguese midfielder who has joined us from Valencia
FC Barcelona made their fourth summer signing on Thursday evening, snapping up André Gomes from Valencia, who starred for the La Liga club in the last two seasons.
To get better acquainted with the recently crowned European champion, here are ten facts that you need to know:
- Despite his youth, he has already played two years in Spain’s top flight with Valencia, featuring 78 times for Los Che: 68 in La Liga, eight in the Copa del Rey, four in the Champions League and three in the Europa League.
- He is unusually tall for a player of his position, at 1.88m. He will be the fourth tallest player at the club, after Pique, Mathieu and Busquets.
- Gomes is ambidextrous and versatile: he is more than capable with both feet and can both as an attacking midfielder as an inside left-winger.
- Despite being born in a province of Oporto, he came from the Benfica academy. There he played 41 times for the first team, scoring four goals and will one Superleague, one Portuguese Cup and one League Cup
- The midfielder recently won the European Championships with Portugal on 10 July. He was a key part of the team, playing five matches, despite getting injured at the start of the competition.
- He has played 13 times for his country, making his debut in 2014 against Albania.
- The 22-year-old has faced Barça on five occasions: his best display was on 18 April 2015 where he was the pick of the bunch of the Valencia team in a 2-0 win for the Catalans.
- Luis Enrique will be Gomes’ fifth club manager in three years in La Liga, after Nuno, Gary Neville, Ayestaran and Voro.
- The Portuguese star made 1,293 passes last season in the league, with a pass success rate of 81.5%
- Next week is his birthday: Gomes turns 23 on 30 July, sharing the same age as new signings Digne and Umtiti as well as Rafinha.