Manchester United prodigy JJ Gabriel asks to leave club: Reports

LONDON - Manchester United’s 15-year-old prodigy JJ Gabriel has asked to leave the Premier League club, British media reported on Sept 15.

The forward has been tipped as a future star and spent time training with Michael Carrick’s side before making his first senior appearance off the bench in August’s friendly against Atletico Madrid.

He had been expected to make his senior competitive debut in the League Cup third-round match against Brighton at Old Trafford on Sept 16.

Gabriel’s request comes just days after he scored a hat-trick on his UEFA Youth League debut against Sabah.

Speaking after that 5-0 win, Adam Lawrence, who coached the team, said: “JJ is surrounded by people that really, really believe in him from the top of the club right the way through.

“He’s been at the club for so long. He’s got real good relationships with the players, with the staff, so I think over the course of time obviously that helps as well.

“At the moment, just in terms of his game, his games programme, his training programme, it’s about making sure that he’s getting the right exposure across different levels.”

Gabriel does not turn 16 until October and has already amassed 844,000 followers on Instagram. The account was recently wiped of all posts.

United, however, have not yet given up hope of keeping Gabriel at Old Trafford. AFP