JJ Gabriel will join Real Madrid in October after asking to leave Manchester United, a source has told 101 Great Goals.
The 15-year-old’s request to terminate his contract with immediate effect was reported by the telegraph on tuesday
It is believed Gabriel has taken the decision for an approximation of Madrid.
The Premier League The club is not obliged to accept the request and must sanction Gabriel’s departure for the transfer to continue.
But United’s hands are somewhat tied as they cannot sign Gabriel on professional terms until he is 17 or make him a scholar until his 16th birthday on October 6.
This has opened the door for him Madrid to make their move and exploit a loophole that allows them to sign players aged between 16 and 18 from another country in the European Union. Gabriel holds an Irish passport, which makes him eligible.
The shock development will be a huge blow for United, who saw Gabriel as the crown jewel in their youth set-up.
The gifted forward, who can play in the front three, made his first appearance for United’s under-18s aged 14 and scored 23 goals last season to become the club’s youngest ever winner of the Jimmy Murphy Young Player of the Year award.
Gabriel was expected to make his first-team debut this season and was thought to be in contention to play against Brighton & Hove Albion at Old Trafford in the third round of the EFL Cup on Wednesday.
With talks with Madrid accelerating over the past week, that is now not a possibility.
Instead, London-born Gabriel, whose full name is Joseph Junior Andreou Gabriel, will move to Spain and further his development at Madrid’s Valdebebas training complex.
Manchester United are not following Arsenal’s lead
It is not known what has motivated Gabriel’s desire to pursue a deal with Madrid, but the lack of clarity over his prospects at United could be a reason.
Gabriel has trained with United’s senior under-21s this season but has not been included in the club’s A-list for the Champions League.
Clubs in the competition can call up youth players from a B-list at short notice, but Gabriel would not have been eligible for that until he turned 16, meaning he was unable to feature in the home win against Azerbaijan’s Sabah on Thursday.
Instead, Gabriel played against Sabah in the UEFA Youth League on the same day, scoring a brilliant hat-trick in a one-sided victory.
He deleted all mentions of United on his social media accounts after that game.
United’s treatment of Gabriel is in stark contrast to how Arsenal have looked after Max Dowman.
Dowman was 15 when he played for Arsenal in their 3-0 Champions League win against Slavia Prague last season.
Among his major contributions as the Gunners won the Premier League last season, Dowman scored a goal at home against Everton in May to become the Premier League’s youngest goalscorer at 16 years and 73 days.
Giggs hails Gabriel as ‘generational talent’
Gabriel’s reputation has spiraled after he joined United as an 11-year-old.
Ryan Giggs, who went from a precocious teenager to a 13-time Premier League winner under Sir Alex Ferguson, spoke glowingly of the striker on The Rio Ferdinand podcast on wednesday
“He’s a generational talent,” Giggs said. “There’s no point going out on loan because he’s in the best place and he’d be in and out of the first team, so this experience is invaluable.
“It’s not just the games and training, but traveling with the team, seeing the expectations of Manchester United… the focus is so big on United. You have to get used to it.”
When Manchester City tried to lure Gabriel last summer, he opted to stay at United. But the appeal of Madrid has caused a change of opinion.
