Man Utd teenager JJ Gabriel is closing in on an exit from the club after requesting to leave in September.
JJ Gabriel celebrates.(Image: 2026 Manchester United FC)
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Manchester United legend Ryan Giggs has questioned JJ Gabriel's camp for "disrupting" his development by pushing to leave the club.
Gabriel's camp submitted a deregistration request to United in September, pushing for an exit due to alleged broken promises.
The teenager's representatives wanted him to make his first-team debut against Sabah in the Champions League (he was not included in the squad United submitted to UEFA), feature against Brighton in the Carabao Cup and Bournemouth in the Premier League.
United planned to give Gabriel his debut against Brighton, but his camp submitted a request to leave before that game. The 16-year-old would have become the youngest player in United's history had he played that night.
Gabriel has not reported to Carrington since September. He has trained in Castelldefels, Barcelona, with private coaches, and is now closing in on a transfer to Real Madrid, subject to FIFA clearance.
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Giggs previously described Gabriel as a "generational talent", but when he sat down to speak to Rio Ferdinand this week, he questioned the youngster's camp for plotting a move away from United.
"So far in his career everything is going fine, why would you disrupt that? You’re on the right track," Giggs told Ferdinand’s YouTube channel.
"I trained at 15. I didn’t play for the first team until two years later, so you have to have that patience that people just don’t seem to have at the moment.
"And believe it or not, first-team football for Man United is completely different to playing in the youth team, playing pre-season for the first team, it’s completely different.
"That first game, yeah, you might do alright, but you have to do it for 40, 50 games a season. You’re going to get injuries, loss of form, bad results, so you have to be patient.
"If you’re on the right trajectory, then just bide your time, no matter how good you are. Max Dowman is unbelievable but he’s not playing for Arsenal at the moment.
"I’m sure he’ll bide his time, I’m sure he’s getting impatient, but he’s not kicking off, he knows in a couple of years' time he might be the main man for Arsenal."
United were initially hopeful a resolution could be found, but Gabriel is set to leave the club.
Michael Carrick handed Gabriel his pre-season senior debut against Atletico Madrid in Stockholm, but the youngster did not play a single minute in any other friendly over the remainder of the summer.