He's always struck me as being the type of player that is the very definition of "central midfielder". He's not got the defensive discipline and isnt physical or combative enough to play as a destroyer, he's not really a got the engine and the work rate to be a proper box-to-box dynamo, he isn't the pacy trickster to play out wide effectively, and he isn't the creative genius to play as a proper number 10.
He's very much (in my opinion) a player that links play from back to front. He's mobile enough, though not blessed with any real pace or athleticism. He can pass well enough, but he's no Scholes. He can tackle well enough for a high press, but you wouldn't want him mopping up in front of the back four. He generally brings the ball forward, spreads play and it's his job to get the better players on the ball. Completely unspectacular in any one area of anything.
If the fees for him and for Renato Sanches were similar, say around 30m Euros, you'd just have to make a call on the fact that Gomes is more experienced and Sanches has more potential. Gomes is likely going to be calmer on the ball and less eye-catching, whereas Sanches will run himself into the ground but possibly at the risk of seeming like a headless chicken who hasn't yet developed the maturity and decision making.
