Jose Mourinho facing reunion with player he 'humiliated' in front of Man Utd squad

Jose Mourinho is set to reunite with a player he managed during his spell as Manchester United manager when Fenerbahce take on Lille in the Champions League on Tuesday night.

Fenerbahce will travel to France on Tuesday to face Ligue 1 side Lille in a Champions League third-round qualifier.

Jonathan David, who continues to be linked with a move away from the Stade Pierre-Mauroy, will lead the line for Lille, according to L'Equipe, who suggest Angel Gomes will start in midfield alongside captain Benjamin Andre.

If the report is correct and Gomes features for Lille then the former Manchester United midfielder will reunite with Jose Mourinho.

Angel Gomes was handed his Premier League debut by Mourinho at the age of 16 years and 263 days old, coming on as 88th-minute substitute in their clash against Crystal Palace.

As a result, he became the youngest player to represent United since Duncan Edwards.

Mourinho played an important role in Gomes' career but after making his first-team debut on the final day of the Premier League campaign, the midfielder was soon drafted into matchday squads for a number of cup games.

And on one of those occasions, he received his first "bollocking" from Mourinho, just days after a poor performance in an U21 game.

Speaking to SPORTbible in 2022, Gomes said: "I've never actually told this story before but one time, he took me to a cup game with the first team, two days after I'd played with the U21s.

"We were at the dinner table and he's come around speaking to everyone. He then looks at me and says, 'I am f***** with you!'

"At the time he was having a laugh with everyone, so I thought he was joking with me. I asked why and he brought up my performance from the days before. He must have thought I'd played s***. I didn't think I played that badly but he's the big boss, so if he thought I'd played bad, I'd played bad."

Gomes added: "He was saying, 'You were doing this and doing that but you should have done this and that...' And this was in front of the whole squad as well. I'd had bollockings in my time but not from the big boss. I just wasn't expecting it. I was taken aback.

"He eventually finished shouting and carried on with what he was doing. I was stuck to my seat. Eventually some of the lads came over and said, 'don't worry, just ignore him. He's trying to get a reaction from you. This is how he is.'

"I was only young so in my head I was thinking, 'F***, he hates me.' I went back to my room and rang my dad. I was nearly crying."

Image credit: Getty

Five years later and Gomes was able to look back at that situation with a fresh perspective.

"It eventually clicked in my head as to the type of person he is," the midfielder said. "Mourinho would always want the best and I think, for me, he was trying to get across that it wasn't going to be an easy ride. He wanted to bring me to that game to discipline me like a first-team player.

"I think it was a, 'If this is where you want to be then this is how you're gonna get treated' kind of thing. This wasn't youth football. And it wasn't until I got older that I fully understood what was happening. I think I was too young to understand him as a person but with my maturity now, I would love to play under him again because he gets the most out of his players."

Mourinho was widely criticised for not promoting youth at Old Trafford but he did hand debuts to six academy graduates – Gomes, Axel Tuanzebe, Joel Pereira, Scott McTominay, Demetri Mitchell and Josh Harrop – during his spell at the club.