JJ Gabriel is one of the best talents in the Man Utd academy and the 15-year-old is being tracked by Barcelona, who are making strong efforts to sign him.
JJ Gabriel
Barcelona are keen to sign Manchester United wonderkid JJ Gabriel
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Manchester United are confident of keeping hold of JJ Gabriel despite Barcelona stepping up their efforts to sign the academy starlet. The 15-year-old and his family have been guests of Barcelona at the Nou Camp on at least one occasion recently and were given a tour of the facilities as the Catalan club try and woo the United teenager.
Their interest in Gabriel is long-standing. Gabriel has met Barcelona players during his visits to the Spanish city and it has been made clear that the club would like to bring him to their iconic La Masia academy at some point in the future. The England Under-16 international has long been talked about as one of the best talents to emerge from the United academy in recent seasons, but his goalscoring exploits for the Under-18s have seen him enter the wider consciousness this season.
He scored a hat-trick in a 7-0 win against Liverpool Under-18s at the weekend and has now scored 10 goals in as many games this season. Gabriel has already trained with the first-team and Ruben Amorim has been asked his involvement in senior training sessions.
“Like everyone, I know he is a really talented guy and everyone paid attention on social media," he said. “You could see the U21s had a game and we had less players and tried to pick players for training that have talent.
“Not just for me to see for tomorrow but for them to feel what it means to be in the first team, the difficulties playing against our defenders, the difficulty of our training, the pace. If we can use every training we have to show the kids what they need to do to be here, it is important, not just for JJ but for everyone."
Barcelona's interest dates back at least two years and they remain keen on signing Gabriel, who holds an EU passport through his father's Irish heritage. That will make a move to the continent easier.
United are determined to keep hold of Gabriel, however. Director of football Jason Wilcox played a key role during the summer of 2025 to show the forward and his family a pathway at the club and Amorim has taken an interest in his development.