Deco says Barcelona not pursuing Manchester United teenager JJ Gabriel

Barcelona sporting director Deco told reporters at a news conference on 24 September that the club has no interest in Manchester United teenager JJ Gabriel, who travelled to the Spanish city after informing United he wanted to leave earlier this month.

Gabriel, 15, has been linked with Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Paris St-Germain, according to reports. He informed Manchester United he wanted to leave Old Trafford earlier this month and subsequently travelled to Spain. United manager Michael Carrick last week urged people to be "careful and sensible" about the amount of exposure and scrutiny given to the youngster. Deco said he had no additional comment on the matter at the conference.

Deco said: "There's nothing to say about this boy." He added: "It's normal we always have players linked with us. There's a huge market for that, even when they are young." Deco went on: "We are not interested in any player in his situation. I'm not sure what's happening, and if he's still a Manchester United player. We are not involved in that." He concluded: "First of all, we need to understand how the situation is before we try to do something. To speak about young, teenage players, it is not our business."

Gabriel has not trained at United since scoring a hat-trick on his Uefa Youth League debut on 10 September. Tournament rules prevent him from playing for a side other than United in this season's competition.

The article notes Gabriel could obtain a European Union passport through either his father - a former Republic of Ireland international - or his mother, who has Greek-Cypriot heritage. If he obtains such a passport, he could join a club in the EU when he turns 16 on 6 October.