Amidst reports of Chelsea being the frontrunner to snatch Manchester United prodigy JJ Gabriel, noted football journalist Fabrizio Romano reportedly said he was not certain the teenager will join another English club.
The teenage attacker, who is currently operating as a striker, was earlier trained at the academies of Chelsea, Arsenal, and West Ham before joining Manchester United in 2022.
Romano, however, confirmed that Gabriel was no longer training with United and the club is trying to calm the situation down. He has categorically told the club that he wishes to leave, but United remain optimistic about convincing the teenager that he is making a mistake.
While several reports said that Chelsea were most likely to sign Gabriel, Romano said many of Europe's elite clubs want Gabriel. He was already being tracked by Real Madrid and Bayern Munich when United got his signature.
Last year, Manchester City were serious about getting him and, given a chance, they still will be. However, Romano said he has no reason to believe another English club is going to be the youngster's natural choice.
Fabrizio Romano reportedly said on his YouTube channel that one cannot rule out the possibility of Gabriel making a switch to Spain with Barcelona or Real Madrid. “The best clubs in the world, all of them want JJ Gabriel. I’m not sure the player is 100% eventually going to another English club. There are many rumours about Chelsea.
“Real Madrid is a club we have to take into consideration. Barcelona is a club we have to take into consideration. Paris and Bayern made some calls... I would keep a close eye on Spain. It’s a very open situation,” Fabrizio Romano reportedly said.
It has been three days since JJ Gabriel's camp officially informed Manchester United that he intends to terminate his contract and leave for another team.
On the player's current situation at Old Trafford, the noted transfer pundit was quoted as saying: “Manchester United are ready to try again until the very end or they will lose the player. JJ Gabriel is no longer training with Manchester United. In the last two, three days he didn’t train. The situation is getting very tense, very complicated.”
Who is JJ Gabriel the ‘Kid Messi’?
Joseph Junior Andreou Gabriel, better known as JJ Gabriel, is of Irish and Cypriot descent and garnered the attention of the world when a YouTube video of him on the ball went viral on the internet. He was nine years old when channel SV2 uploaded his video – highlighting exceptional ball control and dribbling skills. This has earned him the nickname "Kid Messi" ever since.
Apart from being a fox in the box for the Manchester United U-18s, the youngster is effective as a right-winger as well. The 2010-born attacker was last year rated by some experts as the best talent the United academy has ever seen.
