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JJ Gabriel sends message to Chelsea after Man Utd exit request
Oct 06 2026 17:19 · By Chris Davie · 26 Reads
JJ Gabriel has asked to leave Manchester United (Getty)
JJ Gabriel has turned down a move to Chelsea and is leaving Manchester United for a move abroad, according to reports.
Gabriel, who turned 16 on October 6, informed United of his desire to leave last month and has not trained with the club since mid-September.
The 16-year-old is widely regarded as one of the most promising academy players in world football and is now eligible to sign a scholarship contract with United.
However, Gabriel’s entourage are exploring alternative options and the young forward is not short of interest with several clubs across the Premier League and Europe in the running.
According to talkSPORT, Chelsea are among the clubs who have explored the possibility of signing Gabriel, however, the Premier League side have been informed that the player will instead move to ‘a European giant’.
The report adds that Real Madrid and Barcelona are the two clubs leading the race to sign Gabriel, although Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain are also interested.
JJ Gabriel is exploring the possibility of a move away from the Premier League (Shutterstock)
Meanwhile, Sky Sports reported on Tuesday that Gabriel’s camp have been annoyed by United’s refusal to meet their demands over the young forward’s pathway to the first-team squad.
Gabriel has already trained with Michael Carrick’s squad on occasions and made an appearance against Atletico Madrid during pre-season, but is yet to make his senior debut for the club.
It is claimed that Gabriel’s family requested that he played for at least 20 minutes against Sabah in the Champions League, Brighton in the FA Cup and Bournemouth in the Premier League last month.
Gabriel was ineligible for United’s game against Sabah as he was not registered on the club’s A-list. Instead, Gabriel scored a hat-trick against the Azerbaijani side in the UEFA Youth League earlier that day.
‘I just think we’ve got to be really careful of the whole situation,’ Carrick said last month after it emerged that Gabriel had asked to leave United.