15-year-old wonderkid JJ Gabriel from Manchester United has submitted a transfer request, shocking the club, according to Manchester Evening News. Manchester United had previously developed an accelerated development plan for him and was preparing to include him in the squad for the match against Brighton, aiming to break the record for the club's youngest player, but this plan will now not materialize.

Last week, Gabriel scored a hat-trick against Al Ain's youth team. He was still smiling brightly when he returned to the dressing room at Leigh Sports Village. After the match, academy coach Adam Lawrence praised Gabriel highly, saying he was in "great" form. However, just an hour later, Gabriel cleared his social media accounts.

Content related to Manchester United disappeared from his personal profile, leaving only "nikefootball." This gave a sense that something might change, so when the shocking news emerged on Tuesday that Gabriel had asked to leave Manchester United, it wasn't entirely without warning. Nevertheless, the news still shocked Manchester United. Club staff were puzzled as to why Gabriel submitted a transfer request at this time, especially since Manchester United had planned to include him in the squad for the following evening's match, with a potential first-team debut. Had he played, he would have become Manchester United's youngest player in history.

Given the terms of his contract, Manchester United still believes there is a chance to resolve the current situation. Gabriel cannot be released now, but he will have the opportunity to leave next summer, and the club does not want to lose him. After Gabriel submitted his transfer request, an insider suggested the situation could still be salvaged by one factor – money. However, whether that will be enough to keep Gabriel and how much more Manchester United is willing to offer remains unknown.

Manchester United believes the club has done everything possible to show Gabriel that he has a clear pathway to the first team. He was developed on an accelerated plan and received unprecedented support for a player of his age.

It all started the day Gabriel arrived at Manchester United. At that time, the club arranged his appearance in the Old Trafford press room alongside Cristiano Ronaldo's son, which was just one of many special measures Manchester United took to make him feel valued. When Gabriel was very young, Manchester United arranged for him to speak with Marcus Rashford. The club also arranged for him to meet with Ruben Amorim at Carrington, he briefly spoke with Sir Alex Ferguson at Old Trafford, and his family was invited to the directors' box several times to watch matches.

After Gabriel's meeting with Amorim, a photo of the two circulated on social media. Amorim, who was Manchester United manager at the time, was displeased that Gabriel's father had publicly shared the photo. The photo was subsequently deleted, but it had already spread widely online. Manchester United always knew that no matter what the club did for Gabriel, it might not be enough to keep him. Gabriel's father was once a professional footballer whose career ended prematurely due to injury, and he has always dreamed of his son one day playing for Barcelona and becoming a star.

In April 2025, Manchester Evening News reported that Gabriel was on the verge of making his Manchester United U18 debut at just 14 years old. Several months later, he was very close to leaving Manchester United. Had it not been for a last-minute meeting, he would have already departed the club.

Shortly after that meeting, Manchester Evening News reported that Manchester United Football Director Jason Wilcox and Chief Executive Officer Omar Berrada attended the meeting, reflecting the importance senior club leadership placed on Gabriel. Given Gabriel's age at the time, what transpired at that meeting was extraordinary. Manchester United once again emphasized to him that he could become a key figure for the club in the future and promised other special arrangements. Ultimately, all parties agreed that Gabriel would stay at Manchester United, and one of the key factors that convinced him to remain was his own desire to continue playing for the club.

Sources reported that Gabriel cried that day, deeply emotional at the thought of potentially leaving Manchester United. Gabriel takes great pride in representing Manchester United and is also very close with some of his academy teammates. Manchester United staff have always been impressed by his politeness and humility. However, ultimately, a young player early in his career will always rely on his family and advisors.

Now Gabriel's team has decided to attempt to leave Manchester United. They will be free to do so next summer, but Gabriel's current contract expires at the end of this season, so the request to Manchester United to remove him from the roster and release him as a free agent now seems highly unusual. However, looking back at the sequence of events that have occurred, some clues that led to this request can be found.

In March of this year, Manchester Evening News reported that Gabriel would have the opportunity to participate in first-team training during preseason preparation. The young player was first included in the first-team squad when Manchester United traveled to Trondheim to play Rosenborg. Manchester United ultimately won 5-0 against Rosenborg, but Gabriel did not take the field. However, he was still very excited to be part of the team. As he left the stadium after the match, someone congratulated him on being included in the first-team squad, and he politely responded "thank you."

After that, he also had a special moment with his mother when they took a photo together with his kit. Then Michael Carrick brought Gabriel on as a substitute in a preseason match against Atletico Madrid in Stockholm, marking his first first-team debut in preseason. This time the young player also looked very happy. But for those around him, it was quite different that this turned out to be his only playing time throughout the entire preseason.

The various special arrangements that Manchester United had previously provided him were important for demonstrating the club's appreciation, but compared to them, actual playing time in the first team was more decisive. There were always suspicions that Gabriel's father wants his son to become one of the youngest players in football history to debut on the field.

Ethan Nwaneri made his Premier League debut at 15 years and 181 days old, Max Dauman debuted at 15 years and 235 days, and Jeremy Monga at 15 years and 271 days, making these three among the youngest players in Premier League history. Last season, Gabriel was not yet old enough to play in the Premier League. However, in Manchester United's first Premier League match of this season against Hull City, he was already 15 years and 320 days old.

Since Hull City was leading 2-0 at halftime, that match was not a realistic opportunity for Gabriel to come on as a substitute. But in the subsequent match against Ipswich, it could have been thought that this was an opportunity to give him playing time when he was 15 years and 328 days old. Had Gabriel come on as a substitute that day, he would have become the fourth-youngest player in Premier League history, and observers believe his talent is even greater than Nwaneri's, Dauman's, and Monga's.

Manchester United believes the club has done everything possible to show Gabriel that he is an important part of the team's future plans. It was anticipated that he would have the opportunity to become Manchester United's youngest player in history in Wednesday's match against Brighton, but he will no longer have that opportunity now. However, at the same time, this also means that if Gabriel ultimately leaves Manchester United, the compensation the club can receive will correspondingly decrease.

Since the Brighton match was initially the first opportunity to include Gabriel in an official squad, and the club was aware of the enormous media attention on this player, Carrick had previously prepared to answer questions about Gabriel at the pre-match press conference. However, that press conference took place after the Manchester Derby. Since Manchester United had just lost to Manchester City in a controversial match, none of the journalists asked about Gabriel at that time, and the situation with the 15-year-old player temporarily fell out of the spotlight.

But after the Brighton match, Carrick will almost certainly be asked about Gabriel's current situation. It seems somewhat extraordinary that the future of a 15-year-old player could generate such enormous attention, but JJ Gabriel himself is not an ordinary 15-year-old player.

Переведено ИИ.

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