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Manchester United Under-21s take on Brentford in the Premier League 2 this evening.
The academy was rocked by the news that JJ Gabriel had requested to leave this week. The 15-year-old's camp believes his future lies away from Old Trafford, so he will not be involved against Brentford at Leigh Sports Village.
United planned to involve Gabriel in the senior squad to face Brighton in the Carabao Cup third round on Wednesday night. The teenager would have become the club's youngest-ever player if he'd made a cameo.
Academy graduate Shea Lacey scored the opening goal in that game, providing a bright spark on a bad night for the first team.
Follow below for live match updates from Leigh Sports Village.
Gabriel has travelled to Barcelona
Gabriel has travelled to Barcelona to hold talks with the Catalan club ahead of his increasingly likely exit, so he won't be involved tonight.
His camp have always had eyes on Barcelona, but Real Madrid are also pushing to sign him.
The events that led to Gabriel's request
United youngster JJ Gabriel had a huge smile on his face as he returned to the Leigh Sports Village dressing room last week.
Gabriel had just scored a hat-trick against Sabah's youth team. His manager, Adam Lawrence, raved about him after the final whistle, saying he was in a "good place", but his social media was wiped an hour later.
United were removed from Gabriel's bio, with '@nikefootball' remaining. It felt like something may be afoot, which is why Tuesday's bombshell that Gabriel had requested to leave the club was not a complete surprise.
United Academy Notebook
United were left stunned when they received JJ Gabriel's request to leave the club. The news of Gabriel wanting to depart emerged on Tuesday, but United had already been informed of his preference.
Gabriel deleted all mention of United from his social media just an hour after scoring an impressive hat-trick against Sabah's youth team at Leigh Sports Village, which may go down as his final appearance for the club.
Given the scale of the news, which has dominated headlines over the last few days, this week's Academy Notebook will focus entirely on the situation.
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