The JJ Gabriel saga rages on at Manchester United, and club legend Wayne Rooney has now given his thoughts.
The 15-year-old wonderkid appears to be pushing to leave the club as soon as possible, having made a formal request to have his registration cancelled so that he can become a free agent.
Rooney has now revealed that the club have done everything to keep the young forward, who is now their youngest-ever player in an unofficial match.
Gabriel has interest from all around Europe, with heavyweights like Real Madrid and Barcelona lining up to sign him up with immediate effect.
He has not attended any training sessions at the club since scoring a historic hat-trick on his UEFA Youth League debut against Sabah FK U-19s.
Wayne Rooney Provides Interesting Insight into JJ Gabriel Situation
Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney appeared on the Stick To United podcast on Disney+, where he discussed JJ Gabriel's situation.
A boy wonder himself back in the day, Rooney has seen Gabriel closely for several years at Manchester United due to his son Kai being in the same age group.
Rooney admitted that watching the youngster over the years, everyone knew that he was a cut above the rest of his peers. He also revealed that Manchester United have done everything to ensure that Gabriel does not leave, including fast-tracking him and giving him preferential treatment.
"I have seen JJ grow up, he has been in [my son] Kai's team. Anyone close to it knew that was coming.
In fairness to Manchester United they have done everything, absolutely everything, to keep him at the club.
The club have treated him probably differently to the other players because he is such a special player. I know, I recognise that, because I was that player at Everton. I was getting that treatment at Everton.
As a club, you need to do [it] to try to keep the better players. It's disappointing because he is such a top player and a lovely kid.
You never know whether it's gone too far or whether there is a chance for him to stay," he concluded.
Manchester United promoted JJ Gabriel to their U-18 team as a 14-year-old last season, and he was named as the Player of the Season in the U-18 Premier League.
Gabriel also became the youngest player ever to receive the Jimmy Murphy award as the club's Young Player of the Year for the 2025-26 season.
The teenager travelled with Michael Carrick's squad in pre-season, and was handed a 13-minute cameo in their friendly against Atletico Madrid, making him the youngest player in the history of the club.
Rooney became the Premier League's youngest-ever goalscorer back in 2002, when he found the net for Everton aged 16 years and 360 days old.
He joined the Red Devils two years later for £27 million, and went on to become their all-time record goalscorer.
What Are We Hearing About JJ Gabriel?
The race to sign JJ Gabriel is absolutely on, despite optimism on the part of Manchester United that an agreement may still be reached for him to stay at the club.
The teenager has boycotted training, failing to show up for nearly two weeks now, as he hopes to pressure the club into cancelling his registration.
Last week, the BBC reported that he left the UK for France, presumably to hold talks with a team, before heading to Spain, where he visited Barcelona for talks.
In spite of their optimism, the Red Devils are aware that keeping Gabriel may be impossible, and they have demonstrated a willingness to move forward on their own.
They have set their sights on Lens sensation Mezian Mesloub as a potential replacement in their long-term vision.
Michael Carrick had planned to name Gabriel in an official senior matchday squad for the first time in his career last week, but the youngster had already decided that he was not going to be available.
He will become eligible to sign scholarship terms on October 6, when he turns 16, and will undoubtedly have a good number of teams to choose from.
It must be said that he is taking a big risk, unsettling himself at this stage of his career, and his every move will be scrutinised thoroughly from here on out.
