Real Madrid are confident of winning the battle to sign highly rated Manchester United forward JJ Gabriel. The 16-year-old remains officially registered with United, whom he originally joined in 2022, but he has not returned to the club since walking out in September. Instead, Gabriel has opted to seek senior football opportunities elsewhere and has been maintaining his fitness by training alone in Spain.
Gabriel's availability has alerted heavyweights across the continent, with Barcelona and Paris St-Germain monitoring the situation. However, Jose Mourinho's Real Madrid are considered the clear leading contenders to secure his signature. Gabriel has already obtained a European Union passport, a development expected to facilitate a move to a club outside of England. Should he complete a transfer, Manchester United would receive compensation, although the payout will be lower if he moves to a team outside the Premier League.
The prospect has long been viewed as a special talent within English football. He took part in United's pre-season tour match against Atletico Madrid and subsequently scored a hat-trick on his Uefa Youth League debut. Despite being only 14 when that campaign got underway, Gabriel was named the Premier League's Under-18 player of the season last term. His displays prompted a United source to label him "the best 15-year-old in Europe" earlier this year, while former interim manager Darren Fletcher declared: "The world is his oyster."
Gabriel had initially been in line to make history as Manchester United's youngest debutant during September's Carabao Cup fixture against Brighton. Following an EFL Cup defeat by Brighton, United head coach Michael Carrick addressed the delicate circumstances surrounding the teenager: "We've got to be really careful of the whole situation. He's a young boy. He's 15 and, for me definitely, and from a club point of view, looking after our younger players - their welfare, their well-being, their exposure - we've got to be really conscious of that in this situation."