JJ Gabriel informs Manchester United he wants to leave as Carabao Cup tie with Brighton approaches
Manchester United are confronting JJ Gabriel's decision to leave ahead of their Carabao Cup third-round tie with Brighton at Old Trafford on Wednesday. Chief executive Omar Berrada and director of football Jason Wilcox have entered talks with the 15-year-old in an attempt to convince him to stay.
Gabriel's change of heart follows a week in which he scored a hat-trick on his UEFA Youth League debut at Leigh and seemed poised to become United's youngest-ever player by featuring in the EFL Cup match. Club sources say relations have deteriorated amid a belief that promises about his pathway were broken, leaving trust at a low ebb. European giants Real Madrid, Barcelona and Paris St-Germain are among the clubs said to be monitoring the situation.
His record at youth level underpins the interest: Gabriel was named Under-18 Premier League player of the year last season despite being 14 when the campaign began, scored 23 goals in the Premier League Under-18 competition and three in the FA Youth Cup, and won United's Under-18 Player of the Year as part of sides that reached the Premier League Under-18 Cup final and the FA Youth Cup final. Observers at the club point to his balance, pace, close control and powerful shot, and note that this season he has shown a willingness to get stuck in to try and win the ball back; one United source described him as "The best 15-year-old in Europe,".
United Under-21s coach Adam Lawrence warned of the need for care, saying: "The first thing in my job is not to ruin him." That caution sits alongside the reality that elite European clubs target standout youngsters, which is the dynamic United say they are confronting in Gabriel's case.
The club's immediate stance has been to try privately to persuade Gabriel to remain and to point out that his registration with United runs until the end of the season, a factor the club believes could limit moves to Premier League rivals. Gabriel holds a European Union passport — his mother is of Greek-Cypriot heritage and his father won two caps for the Republic of Ireland — and the club view the legal and regulatory landscape as complicated by precedents such as the Court of Arbitration for Sport's 2016 ruling in the Velez Sarsfield case and FIFA's decision over Louie Barry in 2019, when West Brom received no compensation after Barry moved to Barcelona; West Brom had claimed 130,000 euros (£111,000). United fear the worst-case scenario that Gabriel could walk away when he turns 16 on 6 October and leave the club without compensation for a player whose market value, even at this age, "can be measured in millions."
Gabriel made his senior United debut against Atletico Madrid last month but has had limited senior minutes since. He began appearing in senior training under Ruben Amorim and then Michael Carrick, but speculation about a senior debut last season was curtailed by Under-18s coach Darren Fletcher, who by then had taken interim charge and felt it was too early. Gabriel missed the Helsinki trip for the pre-season meeting with Wrexham on 18 July, was included in subsequent squads but played only eight minutes against Atletico in Stockholm, and travelled to Trondheim for the Rosenborg meeting on 24 July where Carrick used 11 substitutes and Gabriel was one of two players who did not come on.
Comparisons have been made within United to other youngsters' senior opportunities: 18-year-old Tynan Thompson received a 45-minute senior debut against Leeds United at Croke Park three weeks after arriving from Tottenham, a game Gabriel travelled to but did not feature in. While the third-round Carabao Cup draw produced an Old Trafford rematch with Brighton, United's Champions League campaign also offered a possible opening; against Azerbaijani champions Sabah, United were 3-0 up at half-time and Carrick had used all five substitutes by the 72th minute, but Gabriel was not introduced. UEFA registration rules meant the 15-year-old could only play if named on United's A list of players; the reasons for his omission from that list are not clear. United named a maximum 25 players including Manuel Ugarte, who will not play until after the registration window reopens in January because of a knee injury, and Thompson. Coaches have suggested Gabriel is not yet at the required physical level for senior football; sources close to the player reject that assessment and point to precedent at other clubs such as Arsenal and Bayern Munich.
Gabriel's name appears on the back of United's programme for the EFL Cup third-round tie with Brighton at Old Trafford, the match at which he had been expected to make his senior debut.