After a “crazy journey” in life and in football, new signing Carlos Mendes-Gomes believes he can achieve his Premier League dream with Luton.
The 22-year-old signed for the Hatters last week and has revealed how the chat he had with boss Nathan Jones was instrumental in helping Town move to the front of the queue for the highly sought-after winger.
Fresh from firing Morecambe to League One for the first time in their history, via the play-off final, Mendes-Gomes will soon be a Championship player, which he believes can be a stepping stone to the English top-flight.
“This year we’re aiming for the play-off spot and that comes with a lot of hard work,” he said, adding: “I met some of the boys, all of them are lovely, I believe they are willing to put in the hard work and hopefully next year by this time we are a Premier League club.
“I always said that I would like to play as high as possible. When I retire and look back at my career I don’t want to have any regrets so I am willing to work as hard as possible and hopefully reach the Premier League.
“Everyone knows that the Premier League is the best league in the world, with some massive clubs. I think it’s any footballer’s dream to actually play in the Premier League and maybe, one day, who knows, win it.”
It’s already been some journey for the forward. Until three years ago, Mendes-Gomes was playing in the tenth tier with West Didsbury and Chorlton having travelled from Senegal, to Lanzarote then Madrid on his own as a 15-year-old to chase his football dream.
Youth spells at Getafe and Atletico Madrid came to an abrupt end when his father moved the family to Manchester.
Coming to terms with a new language and culture the attacker didn’t play the game for a year, but after two terms in the North West Counties League, he turned pro with Morecambe.
The Spaniard said: “The first year (in England) was really tough to actually find a club so the second year when I got a club, I knew that I needed to get playing, enjoy my football and hopefully someone will spot me, in some sense. Football is about opinion and it only takes one person to have the right opinion about you for you to kick on.
“It hasn’t been easy. I always believed in myself, I believe humility plays a key part. Never get too high, one day lows will come, and you have to know how to overcome them.
“I’ve been lucky enough to have been brought up in a household with those values, so I always believed in myself, I always did my best and I don’t know if it’s luck, but it’s certainly been a crazy journey.
“It was tough, at that age (15), leaving your house wasn’t easy, but I always had a focus in my life and a goal and it was becoming a professional footballer, so I always chased that dream and thank god I actually achieved it.”
But despite his travels and challenges, football has always been the goal for Mendes-Gomes and it’s the game that helped him cope with so much change.
He said: “Football is international. It doesn’t matter where you go, you talk with your feet. It was more the language that was the problem (in England). There are certain things you need to learn to be able to communicate with your team-mates and take information from your manager.
“At the time, I couldn’t really do that. But I tried to work on my English and it’s a bit better now. I did a college engineering course and I made some good friends, so speaking with people and playing football with my class-mates actually helped me with the language.”
But this upbringing means that the challenge of getting up-to-speed with the Championship – when Luton kick-off their campaign at home to Peterborough on August 7 – won’t come with any fear.
“For me it has been a bit unreal but I try to keep my feet on the ground and just not think about how big the club is, about the opposition, and just focus on doing well for my club really,” said the attacker.
“I came a long way. I was playing college football and North West Counties with West Didsbury. Playing in League Two is obviously a big change, I had to understand the game and I had to always work hard. I had to listen to the managers that I had and last year, getting the game time that I got helped me a lot to achieve the promotion at the end and the goals I scored.
“It takes time to get used to the new division, but we’ve seen it in the past, players that jump divisions and they still do well. So, it’s about whether you’re good enough to actually do it, or are you not? Time will tell.”
