“I’ve been having injuries around my hip and groin which have been affecting me playing. I also suffered an ankle injury not long ago which kept me out for a long time.
“These injuries would come at hard times for me, times when I was having a breakthrough or times when I had to go to a tournament or playing games, these injuries would happen quite frequently.
“I play for Man United, I also represent the England national team Under-17 level as captain. I’ve known about the Synagogue Church of Nations for a long time.
“As my family follows the prophet, my parents are big fans. So we thought it would be a good time for me to come and be touched by the prophet.” Gomes responded to the video via his official Twitter account, insisting his religion should not be a hot topic of discussion amid the coronavirus crisis and Black Lives Matter protests currently sweeping the globe.
He said: “Regarding the video that has come out from 2016. I am from a Christian family and at the time my mum was a fan of the pastor, and she really wanted me to go. I was going through some issues.
“From the outside looking in it looks crazy, but I was just practising my faith. I didn’t really need to explain myself but a lot of people were asking me what the video was about.
“I was young at the time and if my parents thought something was best for me I would do it. There are far more important issues out there in the world we can tackle.”