“What’s happening…” – Barcelona chief speaks out on transfer links with Manchester United forward | OneFootball

Barcelona sporting director Deco has responded to recent transfer speculation linking his club with a move for Manchester United wonderkid JJ Gabriel.

The highly-rated 15-year-old is attracting a lot of headlines at the moment as he’s widely reported to want out of Manchester United as he approaches his 16th birthday.

Gabriel has become one of the most highly regarded prospects in Man Utd’s academy, but it looks like the club have been dealt a significant blow as he doesn’t want to continue there.

It was recently reported by Give Me Sport that Gabriel had been in Barcelona for transfer talks, but other major European clubs have also been linked.

Deco on JJ Gabriel transfer speculation

Now journalist Ben Jacobs has spoken to Barcelona chief Deco about the links with Gabriel, and the former Portugal international seemed to distance himself and his club from the player.

“There’s nothing to say about this boy. It’s normal we always have players linked with us. There’s a huge market for that, even when they [players] are young,” Deco said, as quoted by Jacobs on his official X page.

”We are not interested in any player in his situation. I am not sure what’s happening, and if he’s still a Manchester United player. We are not involved in that.

”First of all, we need to understand how the situation is before we try to do something. And to speak about young, teenage players, it is not our business.”

It will be interesting to see if anything more concrete follows soon, but for now this perhaps suggest there’s nothing close to being decided on the teenager’s future.

Christian Falk on JJ Gabriel to Bayern Munich links

Meanwhile, Christian Falk recently covered Bayern Munich’s interest in Gabriel in his column for CF Bayern Insider.

JJ Gabriel of Manchester United celebrates after scoring their first goal during the FA Youth Cup Semi Final match between Manchester United and Crystal Palace at Old Trafford on April 17, 2026 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)

It seems October 6th will be a key date for Gabriel as that’s when he turns 16 and can be represented by an agency.

“I can say that the family – JJ Gabriel’s mother is from Cyprus, and his father, a former Republic of Ireland international – have made a decision that the teenager (15) will definitely leave Manchester United and the Premier League,” Falk said.

“He’s turning 16 on 6th October, at which point he can make key decisions about his future. One such decision will be that he’ll join the agency Epic (of Ali Barat, the agent of the year in 2025). Then there will be decisions for the future; the decision is already made that he’ll leave United.

“There is the special interest of elite European clubs: Bayern Munich (Christoph Freund has already admitted his admiration for the player), PSG, Barcelona, and Real Madrid. These four clubs are famous for winning titles virtually every season. That’s why the decision was made that Gabriel would leave United, as they’re not a club currently used to bringing in silverware at any comparable rate of frequency. And he wants to win titles.

“Look, United are obviously still a big club, but if he can move to a currently elite European outfit, he can have a greater chance of winning titles.”