Manchester United’s brightest young hope JJ Gabriel has told the club he wants to leave and has asked for his registration to be cancelled in a devastating bombshell for the Premier League giants
Manchester United wonderkid JJ Gabriel has dropped a transfer bombshell by demanding to leave Old Trafford.
The 15-year-old forward, considered the brightest young talent at the Premier League giants, has informed United that he wants to leave and asked for his registration to be cancelled. The player nicknamed ‘Kid Messi’ has sent formal notice of intention to cancel his registration with immediate effect and the teenager refused to train on Tuesday ahead of what could have been a first-team debut this week.
United had planned to name Gabriel in their squad to face Brighton in the Carabao Cup third-round on Wednesday, but he instead snubbed linking up with Michael Carrick’s squad. The Telegraph report that the move has left United shocked and is “almost unprecedented”. The Enfield-born star, whose full name is Joseph Junior Andreou Gabriel, told the club he has played for since the age of 11 that he wants to become a free agent.
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Football clubs are unable to sign young players to professional contracts until the age of 17, or scholarship agreements until they turn 16, which Gabriel does not do until October 6. However, United can challenge Gabriel’s request to cancel his registration.
It’s understood United do not believe the situation is irretrievable and have not yet accepted Gabriel’s request. But according to our sister title the Manchester Evening news, club officials are unclear what has caused Gabriel to demand to leave.
A United source said Gabriel cannot be de-registered, despite his request.
Premier League rules state: “During your child’s registration period, their registration may only be cancelled if everyone agrees (the club, player and their parent/carer).”
The rules add: “If the parties don’t agree, then any person involved can also ask the Premier League to provide a binding decision on a termination request.”
Gabriel has also been hailed as ‘the next Neymar’ for his incredible feats at youth level, including banging in a hat-trick for United’s Under 18s against Liverpool in a 7-0 win last season.
Last week, he scored another hat-trick against Sabah in the Uefa Youth League, having last season become the youngest winner of United’s Jimmy Murphy young-player-of-the-year award.
Yet suspicion was raised when the boy wonder removed all mention of United from his social media accounts on Friday, the day after his goalscoring feats in Europe.
He has trained alongside the first-team on multiple occasions, despite only celebrating his 15th birthday last October. The gifted youngster has been earmarked for a promising future and has been in devastating form for the U18s.
United welcomed Gabriel and his family to the directors’ box for the Arsenal match last campaign and both Michael Carrick and former manager Ruben Amorim were said to be huge admirers of his prodigious talent.
It is not the first time he has come close to leaving and director of football Jason Wilcox had to intervene to keep Gabriel at the club when he was a 14-year-old in 2025.
The forward is on the radar of clubs across Europe, but Barcelona have made a particularly firm pitch to sign him, and it’s understood Gabriel could move abroad from the age of 16, as he has an Irish passport.
Ryan Giggs, a former winner of the Jimmy Murphy award himself, described Gabriel as a “generational talent” and likened his development to that of United and England icon Wayne Rooney.
He scored 26 goals in 29 games last campaign and already has five strikes in three games this term, including two in his first two matches at Premier League 2 level.