Real Madrid have emerged as the leading destination for JJ Gabriel after the Manchester United teenager reportedly turned down a fresh approach from Paris Saint-Germain.<\/p>\n
The latest development adds another layer to a transfer story that has been building quickly around one of the game\u2019s most talked-about prospects. Gabriel, last season\u2019s U-18 Premier League Player of the Year, is said to be unsettled after what has been described as \u201cBroken promises\u201d over first-team opportunities. Reports have also pointed to difficulties between the player\u2019s family and the club, which has fuelled the expectation that his next step will come away from Old Trafford.<\/p>\n
United have offered Gabriel a scholarship contract that would prevent him from leaving for free, but that has not altered the wider picture. As interest gathered from several major clubs, Real Madrid were viewed as the team best placed to secure him from the outset, and recent reports have only strengthened that impression.<\/p>\n
SPORT reported that PSG were still trying to stay in the race, putting forward improved economic and sporting terms to Gabriel\u2019s camp. Their hope was to persuade him to join a club where young players have been given opportunities, with Luis Enrique regularly using them during his time in Paris. Dro Fern\u00e1ndez, for example, has already made 21 appearances since arriving from Barcelona in January.<\/p>\n
Even so, the report states that Gabriel and those around him rejected the offer from the back-to-back Champions League winners. The teenager is said not to believe that leaving the Premier League for Ligue 1 would be the best move for his development, and instead prefers Spain.<\/p>\n
Bayern Munich and Barcelona are also understood to be out of the running, leaving Real Madrid with a clear path if one final issue is resolved. That obstacle is the approval of a valid European Union passport.<\/p>\n
Gabriel, born and raised in England to an Irish father, is currently working towards a Cypriot passport through his mother\u2019s heritage. Once that is in place, a move to Spain would become possible. He turned 16 on Oct. 6, allowing him to sign a professional contract under FIFA\u2019s regulations on minors and overseas transfers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Real Madrid are now favourites for JJ Gabriel after the teenager rejected a renewed PSG offer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22162,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[179,987],"tags":[1047,182],"class_list":["post-22163","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-manchester-united","category-real-madrid","tag-champions-league","tag-transfers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22163","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=22163"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22163\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22162"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22163"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22163"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22163"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}