In Sky Sports' pre-match coverage, Manchester United legend Gary Neville discussed the potential departure of 15-year-old JJ Gabriel. He explained that he couldn't judge at this stage whether the player should be in the first team, but felt the management team hadn't handled the situation ideally. He also emphasized that young players at this age shouldn't be subjected to excessive external pressure.

Welcome back to Craven Cottage. We're continuing our pre-match coverage for Manchester United's away game against Fulham. Gary Neville, good to see you. We usually meet at the touchline at Old Trafford, but this time we've come all the way here. Gary, lovely weather today, isn't it?

Gary Neville: The weather is beautiful today. Whichever team gets the three points today will have a pleasant afternoon, because both sides desperately need these three points right now.

Fulham are currently near the bottom of the table, but perhaps they can take some encouragement from Coventry's performance last night. That was a truly fantastic match last night, I really enjoyed watching it, especially the last 25 minutes. Coventry played very well during that period.

I even smiled when I saw Brandon Thomas-Asante. Of course, I know him very well because of our connection to Salford City. He played brilliantly last night, and I enjoyed watching that. It was a great match last night, and Fulham could draw some encouragement from it, because they really need points quickly. I'm a bit worried about Fulham. Not because I'm a Fulham fan, of course, but having seen their performance this season, I genuinely feel concerned. Their attacking players are talented but inexperienced. The manager is also clearly still adapting to the Premier League.

I feel that the style of football they're playing now requires everything to go perfectly, with almost no room for error. We've seen this style of play before. I think teams like Sunderland, Leeds United, and even Hull City have shown that when a team comes up from the Championship, a more physical style of play actually suits the Premier League. What I'm seeing now feels like a return to that kind of football—constant short passing and back-and-forth possession.

I know Fulham haven't just come up from the Championship, but in recent years, teams that have been relegated often played this type of football. So I'm a bit concerned about them, but today is a very important game for them.

As for Manchester United, this game has become much more significant than it would have been originally, given everything that's happened in recent weeks.

Indeed, a lot has happened at Manchester United this week. So I think we can go through these events chronologically. Let's start with the Manchester Derby; we all know what happened in that match. A couple of days later, there was another very significant piece of news regarding 15-year-old JJ Gabriel. As you know, he's a talented player who has attracted interest from many clubs. From what we understand, the core issue is that his representatives believe he should have been included in the Champions League squad, perhaps given an opportunity in the match against FK Qarabag, and also received more playing time in the pre-season. But from Manchester United's perspective, they believe they've done almost everything they could. For example, arranging a meeting with Sir Alex Ferguson, having him meet with Ruben Amorim last season, and also allowing him to train with the first team. So Gary, what do you make of this? Of course, I know the core issue is a child who's only 15 years old, but from an external perspective, what do you see?

First of all, I can't judge whether he should be in the first team or not. I really can't judge because I haven't seen enough of his matches. Obviously, he may have seen other players his age playing for their clubs and might think: "I should be playing too."

As you said, the core of this matter is a 15-year-old child. I don't think his representatives really know what they're doing. Of course, if they want him to go to another football club, that's absolutely their right, and there's no issue with that.

But it's clear that his team decided to make this public this week. Manchester United certainly wouldn't want to proactively leak such news, as it's not in Manchester United's best interest. So they chose to escalate things at this time, and they knew very well that Manchester United had just lost a derby and the club was already under pressure. They did it anyway.

If it were my 15-year-old child, I wouldn't want him subjected to this kind of pressure. You know, over the last thirty or forty years, I've seen many 16-, 17-, and 18-year-old academy players at Manchester United. It's never good for them to endure such immense pressure at such a young age. In fact, we've often tried to avoid this situation in the past, and this is the same now. You do that whenever possible. For example, the way Arsenal handled Myles Dowman—you try to keep these young players out of the spotlight, look after them, and protect them.

But what his representatives did this week was essentially pour fuel on the fire. I don't think that's the right approach. Of course, he could leave at some point in the future. But I don't think he can leave right now.

There are FIFA precedents where he could potentially join a European club outside the Premier League.

Straight away?

Once he turns 16. This would also require FIFA approval.

When does he turn 16?

I believe it's October 6th.

Oh, so he's preparing for that. Well, that makes sense. If the child really wants to play abroad, they might need to start acting now. However, if it were me, I'd probably wait until the international break to sort it out.

The international break is coming soon, next week. By then, the external attention won't be as high. I think their timing was poor when they decided to do this mid-week last week. And I can assure you, this doesn't help the child.

But it has happened, and that's the situation now. This certainly doesn't help Manchester United either. Some people will want to know what's really going on here, and I'm one of them. You know, Manchester United has always been a club that many academy talents choose.

To be fair, they've always believed in giving young players opportunities, bringing academy talent into the first team, and they're still doing that now. Over the last twelve or thirteen, or even fourteen years, despite the club facing many difficulties, they've continued to develop young players and bring them into the first team.

But if this child wants to leave, if he's been influenced by other options, that's fine too. I just think this situation could have been handled much better in every way.

From Manchester United's perspective, I'm sure they're not happy with what's happened this week. This also sends a bad signal to other young players. But if JJ Gabriel ultimately does leave, Manchester United will still be here for many years to come.

Übersetzt von KI.

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