Wayne Rooney, inset, expects Manchester United talent JJ Gabriel to be lured away
Wayne Rooney expects Manchester United talent JJ Gabriel to be lured away
Wayne Rooney is unsurprised by JJ Gabriel’s attempts to move away from Manchester United, as the Red Devils’ all-time leading goalscorer speaks on the ‘special treatment’ promising players receive from a young age.
Gabriel, who turns 16 in early October, has recently requested to leave United, with several big clubs, such as Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, and PSG all expressing interest in the exciting attacker.
Many supporters have slammed Gabriel’s attitude around his potential move away from Old Trafford, as the youngster has refused to train and has already held talks with big European clubs despite having not yet played a competitive minute of men’s football.
But Rooney believes Gabriel’s desire to leave United has always been coming, and dropped a big revelation about the club’s attempts to keep the academy prospect around.
Rooney had a big decision to make himself when he signed for United in 2004, as the 18-year-old turned down a £50,000 per week contract from his boyhood club Everton in favour of a move to Manchester.
Plenty of speculation surrounded the young Liverpudlian, but United eventually won the race, breaking the transfer record for a player under 20 at the time with an initial bid of £20 million followed by an additional £7 million in contingency payments.
Gabriel finds himself in a similar transfer saga to Rooney, but 22 years later, three years younger, and with a much smaller portfolio for what he can do at the top level.
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Rooney relates to ‘special treatment’ Gabriel and family are receiving at United
In a discussion with Mark Goldbridge on The United Stand, Rooney revealed how clubs treat future stars and their families and how it differs from their treatment of other academy players.
He said: “The club have probably treated him differently to the other players because he is a special talent, and I know that and I recognise that because I was that player at Everton, and I was getting that treatment.
“Parents get given stuff, you’re getting that special treatment more than other players, which as a club you need to do to keep your better players.”
Speaking on Gabriel’s request to leave, Rooney said: “I think anyone close to it knew that was coming, and in fairness to Manchester United, they’ve done everything, absolutely everything to keep him at the club, and I think it’s been known that there’s been a desire to go and play, probably in Spain. I might be wrong, but this is what you’ve heard over the years.
“It’s just disappointing, of course,because he’s such a top player and he’s a lovely kid, so you never know whether it’s gone too far and whether there is a chance for him to stay, but I think everyone close to it has probably known that that was going to come.”
With his eldest son, Kai, being in the age group above Gabriel in United’s academy, Rooney has watched the two play together over the years, meaning he has likely seen his potential and understands his desire to play at the highest level he can, just the same as the desire he held as an 18-year-old at Everton.
Whilst no concrete offers have been reported as of yet, Gabriel’s intention seems to be Spain, with Barcelona having reached a significant first agreement with the youngster.
Although it does seem that United are destined to lose one of the most talented players in their academy system, they are still mindful of the future, having entered the race for Norwegian wonderkid Gabriel Rajkovic in case Gabriel does depart.