JJ Gabriel: Man Utd now submit ‘new offer’ for one unusual reason – decision on staying ‘almost certain’

It has now emerged that Manchester United have made a ‘new offer’ for youngster JJ Gabriel, though it is for an unusual reason.

For a while, 16-year-old Gabriel has been earmarked as a future star of world football and a huge asset for Man Utd.

And in a blow for the Red Devils, it emerged during the international break that he has decided to leave and that he wanted to have his contract terminated immediately.

Man Utd refused this request and have tried to get Gabriel to change his mind and stay, though it has been widely reported in recent weeks that this is increasingly unlikely.

This is partly because he is attracting interest from Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain, while he has reportedly made an ‘exorbitant’ demand for his next deal and has made his transfer choice clear.

Despite this, a report from The Guardian on Thursday evening revealed that Man Utd have now made a ‘new offer’ to Gabriel, though this may be for an unusual reason.

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Real reason for JJ Gabriel ‘new offer’ revealed

The report claims it is still ‘almost certain’ that Gabriel will leave Man Utd, who may have made a ‘fresh’ proposal to give themselves a stronger chance of securing a bigger fee for the teenager.

It is explained that the Premier League’s current youth rules mean Gabriel ‘would have been able to leave for a rival for nothing in January if the club had not offered him a formal scholarship for next season’, but United’s new offer will prevent this.

The report went onto state that if Gabriel were to pursue a move to another Premier League side, which admittedly is unlikely given the interest from the four European giants, he ‘must now negotiate a fee directly with United for the player’ or go to a tribunal, with his current club standing to receive around £3m instead of a compensation fee of around £300k.

Regardless, ex-Man Utd defender Phil Bardsley has argued that the Gabriel saga is causing the club a headache at the wrong time.

Bardsley told Lyllo Casino: “There’s a lot of noise around JJ Gabriel. I’m not sure who’s advising him at such a young age to kick up such a fuss, whether it’s about his minutes or whatever.

“I can’t imagine it being about his contract because until you’re 17 you can’t sign a pro deal. So yeah, I look at him and he’s an amazing, great talent for the club, one we should look to tie down for a long time, but he’s not fully developed to play first-team football.

“I think he’s had glimpses in pre-season, but for a 15-year-old boy to play a Premier League fixture is going to be difficult. So I think United have been patient and done the right thing with him.

“But whoever’s advising him, I don’t think they’re giving him the right advice at all and they’re causing a bit of a distraction for United at the wrong time.”

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