Manchester United still have 10 days until they are next in Premier League action with plenty of the extended international break still to go

Manchester United stars are off either representing their countries or putting in the work behind the scenes during the international break. But chatter around Old Trafford is still rife.

Before the hiatus, Michael Carrick's men were enduring a difficult start to the campaign. In five Premier League games, they've suffered defeats to Hull City and rivals Manchester City, secured a 5-2 win over Ipswich Town and been held to draws against Everton and Fulham.

These matches came amongst a victorious Champions League opener against Sabah FK and a 3-2 Carabao Cup third-round defeat to Brighton. But concern has also arisen from young prodigy JJ Gabriel's situation.

United's 15-year-old starlet requested to have his registration cancelled earlier this month but has now U-turned over a social media decision. Mirror Football takes a look at all the latest news concerning Carrick's side.

JJ Gabriel's social media U-turn

Gabriel, one of United's most promising young players, ominously wiped his Instagram profile clean earlier in September. Not long after, the revelation broke that he desired to leave the club.

As things stand, United have denied cancelling his registration, his only option for an immediate exit as he is too young to sign a scholarship or professional contract. However, when he turns 16 on October 6, United would be powerless and he'd be able to leave for another European club if he obtained the relevant documentation. Barcelona and Real Madrid are among the rumoured suitors.

Whilst Gabriel doesn't appear to have backed down, he has restored some posts to his Instagram account after deleting everything. Two posts have returned to the profile. The first is a picture of Gabriel after he signed a long-term contract with Nike in late 2025.

The other shows the 15-year-old winning the Under-18 Premier League Player of the Season Award from 2025/26, smiling alongside Alan Shearer and his trophy. Instagram lets users archive posts and restore them to their feed whenever they like. Users can also recover deleted content within 30 days of its removal, but it is not clear which option Gabriel used.

Patrick Vieira's secret Man Utd meeting

Elsewhere, former Arsenal star and current Senegal head coach Patrick Vieira has admitted he once secretly met with iconic ex-United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, who wanted to bring him to Old Trafford. The Frenchman starred for Arsenal between 1996 and 2005, winning three Premier League titles and four FA Cups.

During this period, United and Arsenal often clashed as bitter rivals, with Vieira in particular striking up a feud with Roy Keane. But he has now claimed that Ferguson wanted to partner him with Keane and he even met with the Scot to discuss a transfer from the Gunners. It is unclear when this meeting took place, but United were linked with Vieira in 2003.

"I had an opportunity to move to Manchester United," Vieira told Sky Sports. "I had a meeting with Sir Alex Ferguson. Full respect, I couldn't say no to meeting him because he was an important figure in the Premier League.

"We met and we talked and he explained to me his vision that he had for Manchester United and the team that he wanted to build. He wanted to play me with Keane, [Ryan] Giggs on the left-hand side, David Beckham on the right-hand side and [Paul] Scholes to play behind [Ruud] van Nistelrooy, so it wasn't a bad team.

"But I couldn't leave Arsenal, I was too happy there and we were on the way of building something quite really special for the club and that's the way it was. I felt the love from the club, from the players and from the fans. Everything was there for me to grow up as a player and to achieve what I wanted to."