JJ Gabriel has been compared to Wayne Rooney by Ryan Giggs and the Manchester United teenager produced a performance to add to the hype around him in the 5-0 win over Sabah al UEFA Youth League on Thursday
Gabriel, 15, was a regular in United’s pre-season squads this summer, although he featured in just one of those games, against Atlético de Madrid in Stockholm However, his closeness to Michael Carrick’s side and his performances at youth level have led to talk of him becoming United’s youngest first-team player.
David Gaskell, who made his debut in the 1956 Charity Shield aged 16 years and 19 days, holds the honor of being the youngest player in United’s history.
Gabriel doesn’t turn 16 until October and boosted his inclusion by scoring a hat-trick as United crushed Azerbaijan’s Sabah to open their Youth League campaign.
It was one-way traffic, with United attempting a remarkable 44 shots to Sabah’s 0.
United were 2-0 up after 16 minutes, but Gabriel’s first didn’t come until half-time when he volleyed home from close range after excellent chest control.
His second came five minutes before the end of normal time when he cut past a defender and slotted into the bottom right corner.
Two minutes in he completed the hat-trick by latching on to a ball over the top and firing into the top-left corner, marking his Youth League debut in sublime fashion.
What has Michael Carrick said about Gabriel?
When asked earlier about Gabriel, Carrick indicated there was no rush to move him into the first-team squad for competitive games.
“JJ is one of the guys,” Carrick said. “He’s obviously very talented, he’s trained quite a lot with us and he’s gaining experience all the time.
“He’s adapting physically every step of the way and we’re just continuing his development.”
Any need Carrick feels to protect Gabriel would be understandable, but the more he continues to shine to this point, the harder it will be to avoid giving the teenager a historic debut.