Photo by Ash Donelon/Manchester United via Getty Images
Photo by Ash Donelon/Manchester United via Getty Images
Manchester United’s approach to JJ Gabriel should not disregard the significance of Sir Alex Ferguson’s major admission during his legendary reign at Old Trafford.
JJ Gabriel has been thrust into the spotlight beyond his highly rated talent on the football pitch after it emerged that he wants to leave Manchester United.
United fans were left stunned by JJ Gabriel’s sudden decision and the Red Devils have been left trying to work out a solution to the matter around the player.
Gabriel was meant to train with Michael Carrick’s squad last week and was expected to be in the matchday squad for the Carabao Cup tie with Brighton on Wednesday.
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Sir Alex Ferguson’s point about youth players and their ‘focus’ should be important for Man Utd with JJ Gabriel
JJ Gabriel, who has been dubbed as ‘Kid Messi,’ has been linked with the heavy hitters like Real Madrid, Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich. The 15-year-old Manchester United youth academy product could leave Old Trafford now, despite the Red Devils’ desire to keep Gabriel at the Premier League club.
Sir Alex Ferguson understood Man Utd’s youth academy better than anyone else at the Red Devils after the success that young players had during his reign at the club. However, the legendary 84-year-old former United manager also knew how impressionable youth players were by different factors in football.
According to BBC Sport, the Red Devils’ ongoing situation with Gabriel has included tensions with the forward’s family and United are keen to resolve the issue. Gabriel’s current youth registration and contract with Man Utd runs until the end of the season in May and the Red Devils are now in a race against the clock.
However, Ferguson once made it clear that both financial factors and the approach made by parents deeply impacted young football players by the time they reached 17 years old.
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“There is a professional point of view and a moral one,” he told The Independent in 1997.
“The professional one is to get [the] best players in whatever it takes. The football world has changed and even schoolboys have agents. The moral view is that you should not even be thinking about it for kids.
“They should just play football. If you chase money, you might never get it. If you are good at your job it will come to you.”
United legend Ferguson added: “[A] lot of clubs must pay, but it can cause problems. We did it once, years ago. We agreed to pay £10,000 on his 17th birthday.
“No sooner was he in the place and the parents wanted more, while it also caused problems with the other boys and their parents. Not again.”
United will not be ready to walk away from a rising star like Gabriel without crossing off every box in trying to find a resolution to the shock news from Tuesday. But Ferguson’s words are a powerful — and haunting — reminder of the difficulty that the Red Devils could face with someone like Gabriel.
It remains to be seen if Gabriel will U-turn on his Man Utd call and continue his development at Old Trafford instead of moving elsewhere. However, the United talent could equally put himself in a place where he risks financial rewards instead of the stability that he has at Man Utd right now.