The 10 youngest players to play for Barcelona & Real Madrid as JJ Gabriel eyes Spain move… | OneFootball

Manchester United wonderkid JJ Gabriel reportedly fancies a move to Barcelona or Real Madrid but the 15-year-old is already lagging behind Lamine Yamal and Martin Odegaard.

Gabriel has caused a huge kerfuffle at Old Trafford by telling the Red Devils he wants to leave.

The teenager, whose peers have just started year 11 at school, refused to train with the United first-team this week before he was set to be named in Michael Carrick’s squad for the Carabao Cup clash with Brighton.

Rather than embrace the prospect of becoming United’s youngest-ever debutant, aged 15 years, 11 months and 11 days, Gabriel and his family are deleting their Instagram posts while trying to wriggle away from Old Trafford.

It is unclear what his father, ex-pro Joe O’Cearuill, has planned for his son, but Barcelona and Real Madrid are being heavily linked with the youngster.

If Gabriel moves to Spain, what pathway might Real or Barca offer?

Barca, of course, have very obvious proof of giving young players opportunities. Gabriel is already older now than Lamine Yamal was when he made his debut.

Real’s record of blooding youngsters is shaded by Barca, with the top 10 youngest players to feature for either club this century featuring only one representative from the Bernabeu…

10. Andres Cuenca (Barcelona)

17 years, 3 months, 20 days

Cuenca’s Barca debut came in the Champions League in October 2024 as a late substitute in a win over Young Boys.

And that was it. The now 19-year-old joined Sporting Gijon on loan last season and returned there this term, but only after joining Como in a permanent transfer in the summer.

9. Marc Bernal (Barcelona)

17 years, 2 months, 22 days

Having been with Barca since the age of six, Bernal made his first-team debut in August 2024 against Valencia.

This season, Bernal has been one of four regular senior starters from the same youth team along with Yamal, Cubarsi and Xavi Espart.

8. Marc Muniesa (Barcelona)

17 years, 1 month, 26 days

Muniesa made his Barca debut and received his first red card in the same game, a 1-0 home defeat to Osasuna in May 2009 with the Catalans already crowned La Liga champions.

Injuries curtailed the defender’s career at the Nou Camp before he left as a free agent in 2013 to follow the Bojan route to Stoke. Now 34, Muniesa is playing for Qatari club Al Shahaniya.

7. Gavi (Barcelona)

17 years, 24 days

The midfielder was the fourth youngest player to play for Barca when he came on against Getafe in 2021 but he broke a record that had previously stood since 1936 when he made his international debut for Spain shortly after.

“It’s not normal that he plays like that at 17,” said Luis Enrique after his first handing Gavi his first cap. “We can say that he’s the national team’s present, not just the future.”

Right now, Gavi is fighting for his Barca future amid fierce competition in Hansi Flick’s midfield. The coach has offered reassurance but no guarantees amid interest from PSG.

6. Bojan Krkic (Barcelona)

17 years, 19 days

After 900 goals in the Barca youth teams – really? – Bojan’s debut in a 0-0 draw at Osasuna broke the record set by Messi.

He went on to spend four seasons at the Nou Camp but, understandably, could not love up tot he tag of the ‘next Messi’. Bojan went on to play for Roma, AC Milan and Ajax before settling in Stoke.

Bojan retired aged 32 in part because of the weight of expectation so early. He’s now back at Barca as a mentor at La Masia.

5. Pau Cubarsi (Barcelona)

16 years, 11 months, 27 days

The defender was given his Barca bow by Xavi in January 2024 as a half-time substitute for Andreas Christensen in a Copa del Rey win against Unionistas de Salamanca.

Cubarsi’s first La Liga start came three days later, just before his 17th birthday, and his Champions League debut came within two months when he was named Man of the Match against Napoli.

Ten days after that, Cubarsi made his first appearance for Spain. Nineteen caps later, he’s a World Cup winner.

4. Ansu Fati (Barcelona)

16 years, 9 months, 25 days

At the time, during a 5-2 win over Real Betis in August 2019, Fati became the second-youngest player to debut for Barca, 18 days older than Vicenc Martínez in 1941.

Huge things were expected of the forward, especially after he was given Lionel Messi’s no.10 shirt in 2020. But Fati inherited it having already sustained a knee injury that robbed him of speed and explosiveness.

He was loaned to Brighton then Monaco, who then exercised their option to sign Fati this summer.

3. Toni Fernandez (Barcelona)

16 years, 5 months, 20 days

After coming through La Masia following his switch from Espanyol in 2018 as a 10-year-old, Fernandez made his senior debut in January 2025 in a Copa del Rey clash with Barbastro.

The forward, now 18, achieved one more start for Barca being sold to Venezia on deadline day this summer, though the Catalans retain a buy-back option.

2. Martin Odegaard (Real Madrid)

16 years, 5 months, 6 days

Odegaard had already made his senior debut in the Norwegian league for Stromsgodset aged 15 years three months, and 28 days before he left home to join Real in January 2015.

His first-team debut for Real came as a substitute for Cristiano Ronaldo in a 7-3 win over Getafe in the final match of the 2014/15 season.

Odegaard, though, had to wait until November 30 2016 for his first senior start for Real, 679 days after signing for the club.

1. Lamine Yamal (Barcelona)

15 years, 9 months, 16 days

Barca can point to Yamal as living, dribbling proof of the pathway for prodigious talent at the Nou Camp.

Just shy of two months younger than Gabriel is now, the Spain superstar, now the grand old age of 19, made his first-team debut as an 83rd-minute substitute in a 4-0 win over Real Betis in April 2023.

His international debut came less than four months later. Something we’re sure isn’t lost on Gabriel’s old man.