Man Utd ‘big talent’ may not play for Michael Carrick after INEOS U-turn | OneFootball

Manchester United interim manager Michael Carrick has described JJ Gabriel as a “big talent”, but the former England international midfielder may not be able to play the teenager in the Premier League ever.

JJ Gabriel has earned a reputation for being one of the best young talents in England, with the forward impressing for Man Utd at youth levels.

Former Man Utd manager Ruben Amorim promoted JJ Gabriel to first-team training back in October 2025 and described him as “a really talented guy”.

Man Utd first-team Bryan Mbeumo has been hugely impressed with the 15-year-old forward in training, too.

Mbeumo recently said about JJ Gabriel in an interview with Zack En Roue Libre: “He’s strong, the little guy is strong.

“Yeah, he’s strong, he’s really something, frankly. He’s really strong for, I don’t know how old he is, I think he’s 15.

“You feel that he’s bound to be a little kid but he trains quite a bit with us and actually you see, you can feel that the little guy has something special.

“Of course, and you also see it when he plays already he’s not even with the guys of his generation, and what he does you feel it’s easy for him.

“He’s actually kind of a winger, he’s a dribbler and even in front of the box, I still think he’s good, honestly. Even when it’s one-on-one, often when you’re young, one-on-one in front of the goalkeeper, you stutter but I think he already has good blood.

“We saw him score some nice goals, he has a good shot. Technically he’s strong.”

Man Utd interim-manager Carrick has been effusive in his praise of JJ Gabriel, too, praising the youngster in a press conference on Friday after including the 15-year-old in first-team training this week.

Carrick told The Manchester Evening News about JJ Gabriel: “He’s doing really well, JJ.

“We’ve got some really good young players in the academy and we try and get the younger players up as much as we can.

“We’re always trying to give that exposure to the players to come and train and feel it. JJ is a big talent, it’s pretty obvious to know that, and he’s had a really good season for the under-18s.

“We obviously think an awful lot of him, but patience is important in managing everything that comes with that and working with him in development as we do with all the different age groups and younger players and picking the right moment to step up, picking the moment to leave them in a certain place and ups and downs.

“When he’s trained, he’s done well, as you’d expect, and it’s good to have the younger players come up with us.”

Despite Carrick’s praise for JJ Gabriel, there is a distinct possibility that the Man Utd interim manager will not be able to play him in a Premier League game ever.

JJ Gabriel, who has scored 20 goals and given three assists in 22 matches at the youth level for Man Utd this season, turned 15 only in October 2025.

This means that he is considered too young to play in the Premier League this season because he was 14 when the 2025/26 campaign.

Carrick is under contract at Man Utd until the end of the season, and there is a very good chance that the club’s co-owners, INEOS, will move on from him.

The i Paper reported on February 19, 2026, that Carrick was the ‘favourite’ for the Man Utd managerial role on a full-time basis.

However, INEOS’ stance has since changed, with transfer journalist Ben Jacobs reporting this month that Carrick is not the leading candidate.

Jacobs said on The United Stand: “I don’t think we can call Michael Carrick the frontrunner for the job.”

The reporter added: “Roberto De Zerbi, Julian Nagelsmann and Roberto Martinez are names being discussed at the moment.

“Mauricio Pochettino and Kieran McKenna are still appreciated, but are not expected to be frontrunners for the job.”

JJ Gabriel will get better if he continues to train with the Man Utd first-team training this season, but the benefits of that could be reaped by someone other than Carrick.