Manchester United’s prized possession is JJ Gabriel, as he continues to light up the academy. But he wasn’t always guaranteed to spend 2025/26 at the club.
At just 15, already, JJ Gabriel appears to be on the cusp of becoming a first-team player next season, when he could smash records.
Gabriel is currently the top U18 scorer in English football, beating forwards who are two and three years his senior, which is massively impressive.
Ahead of this summer, United plans to include Gabriel in pre-season with the senior team, which would be a very interesting decision, likely with a view to showing the teenager that he should commit long-term to Old Trafford.
United have already fought hard to keep Gabriel this long.
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JJ Gabriel celebrates, in Man Utd red kit
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JJ Gabriel celebrates scoring at Old Trafford in FA Youth Cup game
Photo by James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images
Manchester United remain in a fight to keep JJ Gabriel
Given Gabriel’s status as the best youngster in the nation, it is natural that he will be sought after by rivals.
According to The Telegraph, last summer, this fight was accelerated with Manchester City showing strong interest in signing Gabriel.
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It wouldn’t be the first time a youth player moved between the clubs, as the Fletcher twins made that leap just three years ago.
But City’s desire to sign Gabriel saw them try to convince the player and his family to exploit the rule allowing U14 players to leave the club at the end of the season.
United feared losing him at one point, before, as previously known, Jason Wilcox stepped in to play a key role.
However, the fight to keep Gabriel isn’t finished.
The report claims that Gabriel is currently being tracked by Barcelona alongside Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, which are the three European heavyweights United could fear losing him to.
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JJ Gabriel
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With arguably the three biggest clubs in Europe after Gabriel, it will undoubtedly be an uphill battle to convince him to stay at United unless the club gets it right on the pitch.
This is because he will want to win trophies and play in a successful, attacking, and exciting team, which United can be.
If United are back in contention for trophies next season, the ace card Ineos have is to accelerate his development and push Gabriel into the first-team, which the other three probably wouldn’t be able to do right now.
Gabriel would need to sign a pre-contract agreement because United shouldn’t be developing him just to be ditched next summer, but if he does, then we could realistically see him making 10-15 appearances next season and contributing.
Carrick has had a close eye on Gabriel already, and if he is appointed, then there is a strong chance he wants to see the 15-year-old step into the senior side under his watch.
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