JJ Gabriel appears in Manchester United team photo amid ongoing stand-off over exit
JJ Gabriel has been included in Manchester United’s official team photograph for the season, but there is no sign of a reconciliation after he informed the club of his intention to leave following UEFA Youth League events at Leigh Sports Village on 10 September. The photographs, taken on 8 September and released on Monday, show the teenage forward who scored a hat-trick against Sabah FK on 10 September and who turns 16 on Tuesday.
The pictures were taken two days before Gabriel played what became his final game for the club and told United he planned to quit, and it is virtually certain his next involvement in a match will be as an opposition player. United still hold his registration and, according to sources close to Old Trafford, the club have made multiple attempts to reconcile the situation as part of their duty of care to the teenager; those efforts have so far been unsuccessful. Gabriel is a target for several of Europe’s leading clubs, with Real Madrid and Barcelona among those reportedly showing interest, and he now holds a European Union passport. No clubs have approached United so far, and the club say they would consider legal action if any evidence emerged of an illegal inducement by a club or agent that would contravene rules on young players.
Sources told BBC Sport that tensions had been building for months but that Gabriel’s decision to seek a move was ultimately triggered by his non-inclusion in Michael Carrick’s squad for the Champions League fixture with Azerbaijani champions Sabah FK on 10 September. Gabriel’s camp had wanted him to be used as a substitute against Sabah, and the prospect of him coming on against Brighton in the EFL Cup on 16 September was also discussed; United officials were subsequently insistent that the Brighton plan was the intention. Had he played in either fixture, Gabriel would have become United’s youngest ever player, but by the time the Sabah match arrived the player had already told the club of his intention to quit and had left the country.
Gabriel could not play against Sabah because he had not been registered on United’s UEFA A list when it was announced on 3 September; the exact reasons for that omission have not been made clear. That did not prevent him scoring a hat-trick in United’s UEFA Youth League meeting with Sabah at Leigh Sports Village earlier on 10 September. He has not been back to United since that Youth League game, and it is not clear whether anything significant occurred after that match.
United maintain they made clear they view Gabriel as important to their first-team future, while sources say the player did not report for the start of the academy’s pre-season training schedule in early July despite being asked to do so. The club lobbied the Premier League to allow the forward to use the name "JJ Gabriel" on the back of his shirt; his real name is Joseph Junior Andreou O'Cearuill and he is reported to have changed it for commercial reasons. United say they have provided Gabriel with first-team care and services, including regular meetings with senior coaches and nutritionists, and they point to his inclusion in the senior team photo as further evidence of their commitment to his development.
When Gabriel committed to United in the summer of 2025 he was 14 and was soon called into senior training sessions by Ruben Amorim. Interim boss Darren Fletcher, then Gabriel’s under-18 coach, was asked whether the forward could make his competitive debut in the FA Cup third-round tie with Brighton in January and said no, believing the youngster was not physically ready. Gabriel ended the 2025-26 campaign as the Premier League’s Under-18 player of the year and won United’s Under-18 player of the year award, which he collected at Old Trafford in May.
Gabriel was not part of Carrick’s squad for the friendly trip to Helsinki to face Wrexham and was an unused substitute against Rosenborg in Trondheim on 24 July, a game in which Carrick made 10 outfield changes and five of those players have since been sold or loaned. He made a brief appearance against Atletico Madrid in Stockholm on 1 August, replacing Bryan Mbeumo for the final eight minutes, and was an unused substitute for the subsequent matches against Leeds and AC Milan; against Leeds, Dan Armer and 18-year-old Tynan Thompson were introduced. United beat Sabah 4-0 in the Champions League tie and Carrick had used all five substitutes by the 72nd minute; the following week United lost to Brighton after surrendering a 2-0 lead.
Manuel Ugarte occupied one of United’s 25 places on the UEFA A list despite not being due to recover from a knee injury until after the squad is resubmitted for the knockout phase, and Thompson was also named because he is not classed as home-grown. As Gabriel will be 16 he could have been placed on the B list for the remaining seven league-phase matches, but for the Sabah game he would have had to occupy an A list spot. The forward was given the number 77 shirt by Manchester United for the 2026-27 season.
Gabriel is currently in Spain working full-time with coach Jack Hunter; the pair have worked together since the summer of 2025 and Hunter is credited with being a major influence on Gabriel’s 2025-26 campaign. A final decision on Gabriel’s future is not expected for a few weeks, with United watching the situation closely; the club say they have been stung by the sequence of events and believe they have done all they could to avoid it, while the player’s representatives hold a different view and those close to Gabriel remain confident in the route they are pursuing.
