JJ Gabriel has spent months being spoken of as Manchester United\u2019s next major academy talent, yet the 15-year-old now appears to be at the centre of a possible departure from Old Trafford.<\/p>\n
His recent form has only reinforced that reputation. Last week, Gabriel struck a hat-trick against Sabah in a UEFA Youth League rout. He had already been named last season\u2019s U-18 Premier League Player of the Year, despite being only 14 when the campaign began. He also became the youngest player to win the Jimmy Murphy Player of the Year award, the annual honour given to the club\u2019s best U-18 player.<\/p>\n
There have been encouraging numbers this season as well. In Premier League 2, Gabriel has recorded two goals and two assists in two matches, which led to expectations that he could at least make the bench for Wednesday\u2019s Carabao Cup meeting with Brighton & Hove Albion. That, however, now seems unlikely, and there is concern that his future could lie away from the club entirely.<\/p>\n
The uncertainty sharpened when all reference to Manchester United vanished from his Instagram account. Reports from beat reporters at The Athletic and BBC Sport say Gabriel has formally asked for his registration to be cancelled.<\/p>\n
Because he is still too young to sign the two-year scholar deal that normally precedes a professional contract, a cancellation would immediately make him a free agent. United can still block the move, as cancelation requires agreement from the player, the parent or carer, and the club.<\/p>\n
United are said to be shocked, though still hopeful that matters can be resolved. Chief executive Omar Berrada and sporting director Jason Wilcox are involved in that process. If there is no outcome, the Premier League may need to step in.<\/p>\n
The exact cause remains unclear. BBC Sport refers to \u201cissues in the relationship between the player\u2019s family and United,\u201d while The Athletic and Sky Sports suggest the frustration may centre on opportunities. Sky Sports adds that \u201cpart of the reasoning for Gabriel\u2019s request to leave is over game time, both in preseason and since the season started.\u201d There has been no issue with his attitude in training.<\/p>\n
Given his age, that focus on minutes is unusual. But recent football has shifted expectations. Because he does not yet have the two-year history required for List B, Gabriel had to be included on List A to feature in the Champions League. Sky Sports also says \u201cthere is a feeling\u201d from his side that others have been given better chances. Tynan Thompson, signed from Tottenham Hotspur\u2019s academy in the summer, did make List A, although he has not yet been in a first-team squad.<\/p>\n
United believe they have done enough to show a route to the first team. Gabriel trained with senior players at times over the past year and previously met former boss Ruben Amorim, before also being introduced to Sir Alex Ferguson. He was in and around first-team work for much of the last year, but was suddenly absent from the end of last week.<\/p>\n
For now, United can point to other young players on the edge of involvement. Yet if Gabriel leaves and goes on to fulfil the obvious potential around him, it would be a significant miss.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Gabriel\u2019s reported exit request has put United\u2019s academy pathway under scrutiny after a rapid rise.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19497,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[179,172],"tags":[1047,180,182],"class_list":["post-19498","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-manchester-united","category-epl","tag-champions-league","tag-player-news","tag-transfers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19498","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19498"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19498\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19497"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}