Manchester United teenager JJ Gabriel has been in talks with Spanish giants Real Madrid and Barcelona over a potential move to La Liga
JJ Gabriel celebrates
JJ Gabriel is looking set to leave Manchester United (Image: Martin Rickett/PA Wire)
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Former Manchester United striker Louis Saha has suggested that Real Madrid and Barcelona should stay away from wantaway Reds youngster JJ Gabriel. It comes after super agent Ali Barat helped facilitate talks between Gabriel's family and Madrid and Bayern Munich.
The academy player is looking to leave ahead of what could have been his first-team debut last week. The club had planned to include Gabriel in their squad to face Brighton & Hove Albion in the Carabao Cup third round. It would have made the 15-year-old United’s youngest-ever first-team player.
But that did not happen after his stunning request was made earlier this week. Concern grew over Gabriel after he deleted all pictures on his Instagram profile last week. The unusual behaviour came without any explanation, but his desire to leave may offer one.
The teenager was in Spain last week amid links with Madrid and Barca. However, ex-United striker Saha has suggested, via Betano, that the La Liga giants should stay away.
He said: "Barcelona and Real Madrid should stay away from JJ Gabriel. I don’t think it is good for the game or the nature of the industry. It seems a terrible message to other young players and their advisors too.
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"Success in football needs patience. You need to work for the opportunity and wait for it to come and then, after you’ve played the games and made that impact, it’s a different conversation.
"Doing really well in the academy, that’s great, but it means nothing in the first team. You don’t get to walk in straight away and replace senior professionals like Matheus Cunha or Bryan Mbeumo or whoever else. That is completely unrealistic and it places too much pressure on a young player. He is the son of a former footballer too. They should know better than to put all this risk on him so early.
JJ Gabriel of Manchester United looks on during the Premier League 2 match between Manchester United and Ipswich Town at Leigh Sports Village on August 24, 2026 in Leigh, England
JJ Gabriel is looking to leave Manchester United(Image: 2026 Manchester United FC)
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"Look at Martin Ødegaard. He had all the skills. He looked like he could do it all. He went to Real Madrid and never got his chance. Sometimes you need to protect these players from themselves and their advisors. I can’t understand how they don’t see that for themselves."
Saha has also suggested that Gabriel could end up like former United flops Jadon Sancho and Paul Pogba. Both players arrived at Old Trafford for big money, but both stars, particularly Sancho, failed to deliver.
He added: "Can JJ Gabriel leave Manchester United and make an impact at another club as Paul Pogba did at Juventus, or like Jadon Sancho when he left Manchester City for Borussia Dortmund? I think he is in the sort of position on the pitch where it would be a bit easier to make that breakthrough playing as a forward. In that part of the pitch, you can make mistakes and it is fine. He is not a defender where those mistakes can hurt the team more.
"We saw it with Cristiano Ronaldo at Manchester United when he was young but he was not as young as JJ Gabriel. This is a different situation. There are always exceptions that can be made but the Premier League is a physical competition and JJ Gabriel will get special attention from teams and that will be very hard on him, physically and mentally, no matter what his trajectory could be.
"Paul Pogba and Jadon Sancho were good examples in the past but where are they now in the game? They are no longer in the frame. Not everyone can be Wayne Rooney. He was mature at 16. He had the physique of a monster. JJ Gabriel is not that sort of player, and he will get targeted."