Manchester United have officially submitted a scholarship offer to teenage sensation JJ Gabriel in a desperate attempt to protect one of their most valuable academy resources. The 16-year-old striker has already expressed a desire to leave Old Trafford, which has piqued the interest of a number of European heavyweights.
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Manchester United have taken the initiative to secure JJ Gabriel’s future by submitting a formal scholarship offer, but the club is still in a precarious situation when it comes to the teenager’s long-term stay – according to The Guardian.
The striker, who recently celebrated his 16th birthday, sent shockwaves through Carrington academy last month when he called for his registration to be cancelled. By putting forward this formal scholarship proposal for the upcoming season, United have ensured that they will be entitled to compensation if the youngster decides to continue his career elsewhere – rather than letting him walk away for nothing in the January window.
The situation remains very tense, as the relationship between Gabriel’s representatives and the club’s management seems to have reached a breaking point. Despite the recent release of a team photo with the player, which briefly created optimism among fans, a reconciliation seems increasingly unlikely.
United demand over £3m for JJ Gabriel
Man Utd had previously gone to great lengths to convince the prodigy of his way to the senior team, and even arranged a meeting with Sir Alex Ferguson to demonstrate his position in the United system. However, the youngster has not attended training for over three weeks, and the club has made several attempts to check how he is doing during his absence.
United are determined to receive a fair value for a player who has spent five years in their youth system. If Gabriel chooses to join another Premier League team, the two clubs must agree on a transfer fee – otherwise, the matter will be decided by a professional football compensation committee.
The “Red Devils” are likely to point to the recent case of Rio Ngumoha, where Liverpool were required to pay Chelsea £2.8 million upfront plus an additional £1.2 million, to justify a valuation of over £3 million. Furthermore, United will require a 20 percent sell-off clause to ensure they benefit from his future development.
Overwhelming demands behind the scenes
The confrontation at Carrington follows a series of notable wishes from the player’s camp before the relationship deteriorated. It has emerged that Gabriel’s representatives had wanted a unique arrangement for the 16-year-old, including an expectation that he would train exclusively with the senior team rather than return to the U21 team before the season.
The club had initially tried to accommodate the prodigy, going so far as to award the teenager the number 77 shirt and ask the Premier League for permission for him to wear “Gabriel JR” on his shirt. However, the demands escalated to include specific playing time guarantees that the club believed were impossible to meet.
His camp asked for at least 20 minutes of playing time in three specific first-team games against Brighton, Bournemouth and Sabah. When United refused to honour these ultimatums, the player was then left out of the Champions League registration list and Carabao Cup squad.
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