United will not grant Gabriel’s request: The Athletic lifts the lid on what’s going on behind the scenes in wonderkid’s exit | OneFootball

1

JJ Gabriel’s desire to leave Manchester United has reportedly sent “shockwaves through” the game.

Considered the most gifted teenage talent at Carrington, Gabriel was expected to make his first-team debut against Brighton on Wednesday. Instead, academy winger Shea Lacey started the game and scored a wonderful goal to mark his first start for the Red Devils.

On Monday, Gabriel’s camp formally communicated to the club that the 15-year-old intends to leave, requesting de-registration via a letter.

The development has alerted several top clubs, including Real Madrid, who are thought to be “well-positioned” to land Gabriel. Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich are also making overtures, according to The Athletic.

Still, the reliable outlet claims that “United will not grant Gabriel’s request” that his contract be torn up, which would ordinarily mean he has to honour its terms until the deal expires next summer.

Accordingly, it is understood that clear-the-air talks are expected to try to find a resolution in the short term, because “he loves football too much to go without playing for the best part of a year.”

How did things come to this?

It is understood JJ Gabriel has not been seen at Carrington since he scored a hat-trick for the under-19s in the UEFA Youth League last Thursday.

Gabriel and his family were reportedly keen on a first taste of Champions League football and were expecting the starlet to be part of the senior squad to face Sabah FK’s senior side in Europe’s premier competition.

“This was a definitive moment, and afterwards United were informed of a plan for change,” the report adds. His limited involvement in the senior side’s pre-season in the summer also raised a few eyebrows and possibly gave his suitors an opportunity to make their pitch.

It is suggested that Real Madrid have allegedly been “working on the potential” deal to sign Gabriel for months. Los Blancos want him to play for Castilla, their youth side, but regard him as a future first-team talent.

Given Real are blessed with some of the world’s best attackers, including Kylian Mbappé and Vinicius Jr., and only recently spent north of £100m to sign Yan Diomande, who is struggling for regular starts, it would be interesting to know why Gabriel’s family are optimistic the youngster would get more senior opportunities at the Santiago Bernabéu.

Regardless, Gabriel’s exit would be viewed as a major setback in Manchester, with some in the industry speculating “United are seeing a future £100 million player slip through their fingers.”

United reportedly feel they have done all they can to show Gabriel and his camp how highly they rate him, and the noise from the club is that they are still trying to resolve the situation, but recent developments suggest it is too late to close the exit door.