15-year-old Manchester United wonderkid forward JJ Gabriel suddenly submitted a transfer request..

The Athletic reported on Thursday that Manchester United's 15-year-old wonderkid forward JJ Gabriel, has suddenly submitted a transfer request to the club.

According to the report, Gabriel handed in the request on the very day Manchester United were set to face Brighton in Carabao Cup match at Old Trafford, demanding that the club immediately de-register him.

In that match, Manchester United suffered a shock defeat; despite leading by two goals, they conceded three unanswered goals to Brighton. Following the game, scenes of fans loudly booing at the stadium were interpreted in the context of Gabriel’s desire to leave, driven by frustration over the club's lack of progress.

However, the report notes that team correspondents had interviewed Gabriel and his youth academy coaches just weeks earlier, and at the time, there were no signs of a rift in the relationship; consequently, the player's decision to sever ties with the Red Devils now comes as something of a puzzle.

Meanwhile, the Manchester Evening News has alleged that Gabriel's move may be linked to his father's controlling nature.

The report states that Gabriel was originally surnamed O'Cearuill, but his father, deeming the original surname to "lack commercial appeal", decided to register him under the name JJ Gabriel.

His father, Joe O'Cearuill, was once an Ireland international player who spent time in Arsenal's youth system before being released at an early stage.

Gabriel had previously played for the youth academies of several London clubs, including Arsenal, Chelsea, and West Ham United, but each stint ended acrimoniously due to his father's overbearing behaviour; the pair have even been blacklisted by clubs across the London area.

It was precisely because he had been blacklisted by London clubs that Gabriel joined Manchester United's youth academy in 2022. 

Yet, even at this stage, O'Cearuill remains unrepentant. Over the years, he privately set up an Instagram account for his son, branding him the "English Kid Messi", and built a following of over a million through strategic marketing.

However, O'Cearuill has also posted content comparing Gabriel's teammates unfavorably and even incited his son to disparage them. He went so far as to threaten that if Manchester United failed to appreciate Gabriel's value, he would make the Red Devils experience the same pain Barcelona felt when they lost Lionel Messi.

Finally, the Manchester Evening News speculated that O'Cearuill might be driven by vanity and resentment; seeing his son's international teammates, such as Max Dowman (Arsenal) and Rio Ngumoha (Liverpool), break into first-team squads may have prompted him to urge Gabriel to leave the club.

On another note, because Gabriel holds heritage from Ireland, Trinidad and Tobago, and Cyprus, he is theoretically exempt from post-Brexit restrictions; he could leverage his passports from these nations to secure an immediate transfer to a club outside the UK.

It is reported that Real Madrid is closely monitoring the situation and has not ruled out signing the youngster soon.

Born on October 6, 2010, in Enfield, England, the 15-year-old Gabriel is 1.75 meters tall and primarily plays as a center-forward, though he is also capable of playing as a left winger.

Since joining the Red Devils' youth academy, Gabriel has made 35 appearances for the Premier League giant's youth teams across various competitions, recording 34 goals and 6 assists, and has won the Jimmy Murphy Young Player of the Year award. 

Not long ago, he scored a hat-trick in Manchester United's 5-0 victory over Sabah in the UEFA Youth League, becoming the youngest goalscorer for the Red Devils in the competition's history.

Image source: Internet / Manchester Evening News