Real Madrid is set to sign Manchester United teenager JJ Gabriel after European heavyweights Bayern Munich, Barcelona and PSG were all interested in the youngster's signature.
Back in September, Chelsea actually looked to have been leading the race to sign the Englishman, with the West London club being Gabriel's preferenc if he were to join an English club, although Chelsea could not register any academy players until January 2027, due to a transfer ban they got hit with earlier in the year.
The teenager made his intentions clear about wanting to leave Manchester United and has not trained with the club since. He made his debut for Michael Carrick's side in pre-season against Atletico Madrid and was expected to become their youngest-ever player against Brighton in the Carabao Cup, but never got to.
But has made it clear that he wants to move on and has asked to be de-registered as a player, whilst training in Spain ever since. Though no club-to-club talks have been held, Real have verbally agreed a deal with Gabriel and his representatives for the 16-year-old to join Jose Mourinho's side in January.
Gabriel became the youngest player to score a UEFA Youth League hat-trick for the club in the 5-0 win over Sabah in early September, and has been widely considered one of the club’s most exciting prospects, who is capable of operating mainly as a winger or a No. 10.
Many around Manchester United, and those just around football, believe that Gabriel will one day be a world-class talent, and as for United losing a player that has potentially that high of a ceiling for a lower sum of training compensation could become regrettable in the coming years if his career is handled well by the right people.
Although Manchester United wanted to try to keep Gabriel at Old Trafford, this has been something that has looked inevitable for a couple of months now, and what I think it came down to in terms of Gabriel leaving Old Trafford was that both sides couldn't meet in the middle on any requirements.
One of Gabriel's requests was that he exclusively wanted to train with the first team, and not with the under-18s or under-21s, and being 16 years old, it would have taken a Wayne Rooney level of talent for that to happen.
Another thing he wanted was a guarantee of at least 20 minutes of game time in three specific fixtures: Sabah in the Champions League, Bournemouth in the Premier League and Brighton in the Carabao Cup. But I think the one that broke United's pursuit of keeping him was that Gabriel wanted a seven-figure salary, a huge jump from standard academy scholarships, which usually pay around £10,000 a year.
There is historical precedent for this kind of situation, with Arsenal famously snapping up Cesc Fabregas as a teenager, while United brought Gerard Pique to the club, whereas if Chelsea were to end up signing Gabriel or if he went to another English club, it would have been expected to have a lower price tag than what Liverpool paid for Rio Ngumoha, with a price tag of £2.8 million.
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