Carlos Mendes Gomes (born 14 November 1998) is a professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays for English club

Fleetwood Town Fleetwood Town Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Fleetwood, Lancashire. Established in 1997, the current Fleetwood Town F.C. is the fourth incarnation of the club; it was originally formed in ...

, on loan from

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...

, as a winger. Born in Senegal and raised in Spain, he is a naturalised Spanish citizen.

Early life

Born in Yeumbeul,

Dakar Region Dakar Region (french: link=no, Région de Dakar) is the smallest and most populated Region of Senegal, encompassing the capital city of the country, Dakar, and all its suburbs along the Cap–Vert Peninsula, Africa's most westerly point. Adminis ...

, to a family of Bissau-Guinean and Gambian descent, Mendes Gomes and his family moved to Spain when he was a child, after his father Carlos sought work in construction. The family moved to

Lanzarote Lanzarote (, , ) is a Spanish island, the easternmost of the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean. It is located approximately off the north coast of Africa and from the Iberian Peninsula. Covering , Lanzarote is the fourth-largest of the i ...

Career

Early career

After spending 10 years at

UD Lanzarote Unión Deportiva Lanzarote is a Spanish football team based in Arrecife, Lanzarote, in the autonomous community of Canary Islands. Founded in 1970 it plays in Tercera División RFEF – Group 12, holding home games at the ''Ciudad Deportiva de La ...

, Mendes Gomes moved on his own to Madrid aged 15, where he began playing for

Getafe Getafe () is a municipality and a city in Spain belonging to the Community of Madrid. , it has a population of 180,747, the region's sixth most populated municipality. Getafe is located 13 km south of Madrid's city centre, within a flat ar ...

. A season later he signed for

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), known simply as Atleti in the Spanish-speaking world and commonly referred to at international level as Atlético Madrid, is a Spanish profess ...

's youth teams. His family then moved to England, after his father thought it was better for the children's education, with the family relocating to

Salford Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...

. Mendes Gomes could not speak any English and did not play football for a year. He then began playing for West Didsbury & Chorlton, scoring seven league goals in 50 games in all competitions during his two-season spell.

Morecambe

In May 2018, Mendes Gomes signed for

Morecambe Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district in Lancashire, England. It is in Morecambe Bay on the Irish Sea. Name The first use of the name was by John Whitaker in his ''History of Manchester'' (1771), w ...

alongside Lamin Jagne, after being scouted whilst studying at The Manchester College and playing for their football academy. He made his professional debut on 14 August 2018, replacing

Rhys Oates Rhys Derek Oates (born 4 December 1994) is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for League Two club Mansfield Town. Career Barnsley Oates began his career at Barnsley after joining them at the age of six and in May 2013, ...

in a 3–1

EFL Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...

away loss against

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

. He made 19 appearances for the club across the 2018–19 season, with 15 appearances coming in

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

. A one-year contract option was exercised by Morecambe at the end of the 2018–19 season. Mendes Gomes scored his first goal for Morecambe in a 2–1 defeat at home to

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The history of Oldham Athletic ...

on 26 December 2019. He was offered a new contract at the end of the 2019–20 season. In April 2021 he was linked with a transfer away from the club following a series of strong performances, which attracted praise from Morecambe manager

Derek Adams Derek Watt Adams (born 25 June 1975) is a Scottish football manager and former player who is currently manager of Morecambe. Adams played professionally for six clubs, including Aberdeen and Motherwell, where he made over 300 league appearances ...

. In May 2021 he was voted the Supporters' Player Of The Season. On 31 May 2021, he scored a 107th minute penalty in the League Two play-off Final, securing a 1–0 win against Newport County and Morecambe's first ever promotion to the third tier of English football. In June 2021 the club activated an extension to his contract. He was the club's top scorer in the 2020–21 season, with 15 goals.

Luton Town

On 26 June 2021, Mendes Gomes signed for

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

side

for an undisclosed fee. In January 2022 he assisted Luton teammate

Dion Pereira Dion Enrico Pereira (born 25 March 1999) is an English footballer who plays as a winger for Bradford City on loan from Luton Town. Club career On 6 May 2017, Pereira made his senior debut for Watford in a 3–0 away defeat at Leicester City, c ...

secure a loan move to

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. Th ...

, who were managed by

, who had managed Mendes Gomes at Morecambe. He moved on loan to

in August 2022.

Career statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mendes Gomes, Carlos 1998 births Living people Senegalese footballers Senegalese emigrants to Spain Spanish footballers Getafe CF footballers Atlético Madrid footballers West Didsbury & Chorlton A.F.C. players Morecambe F.C. players Luton Town F.C. players Association football wingers Spanish expatriate footballers Spanish expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate footballers in England English Football League players Naturalised citizens of Spain People from Dakar Region Senegalese people of Bissau-Guinean descent Sportspeople of Bissau-Guinean descent Senegalese people of Gambian descent Sportspeople of Gambian descent Spanish sportspeople of African descent Spanish people of Bissau-Guinean descent Spanish people of Gambian descent Fleetwood Town F.C. players