Real Madrid confident of signing Manchester United forward JJ Gabriel

Real Madrid are confident of winning the race to sign Manchester United forward JJ Gabriel, the 16-year-old registered to United, in a report published on 2026-11-04.

Gabriel joined Manchester United in 2022 and has not returned to the club since walking out in September. He featured against Atletico Madrid on United's pre-season tour. Gabriel has opted to look elsewhere for senior football and has been training on his own in Spain.

His availability alerted clubs around Europe, including Barcelona and Paris St-Germain. Jose Mourinho's Real are considered the clear leading contenders for Gabriel's signature. He has secured a European Union passport, which is expected to make it easier for him to sign for a club outside England.

Gabriel scored a hat-trick on his Uefa Youth League debut. He had been expected to become the club's youngest debutant in September's Carabao Cup tie against Brighton. He was named the Premier League's Under-18 player of the season last term, despite being only 14 when the season campaign.

A United source described him as "The best 15-year-old in Europe," earlier this year. Former interim manager Darren Fletcher said: "The world is his oyster." Those endorsements formed part of the public profile surrounding his emergence at youth level.

Speaking after the EFL Cup defeat by Brighton, United head coach Michael Carrick said: "We've got to be really careful of the whole situation. "He's a young boy. He's 15 and, for me definitely, and from a club point of view, looking after our younger players - their welfare, their well-being, their exposure - we've got to be really conscious of that in this situation."

Should Gabriel leave Manchester United, the club would be due compensation, although the figure will be lower if he signs for a club outside the Premier League.