Manchester United academy sensation promoted after ‘blowing coaches away’

One Manchester United academy sensation has been promoted this month after ‘blowing coaches away’ with his performances.

The Reds are no strangers to an exciting youth talent, with the likes of Kobbie Mainoo and Alejandro Garnacho currently starring in Erik ten Hag’s first-team squad.

There is also an extremely exciting crop of talent within the club’s Under-21s and Under-18s squads, including Shea Lacey, Jack Fletcher, Gabriele Biancheri and more.

However, it is not so often that you hear about players at younger age groups, partly as the club want to protect them from the media.

Sometimes, though, it is impossible to keep everything behind-closed-doors when such talented players are being produced.

A new report from MailOnline has claimed that 14-year-old starlet JJ Gabriel has been promoted to train with the clubs extremely successful Under-18s side.

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A post shared by Joseph Junior Andreou Gabriel (@jjnr10)

Adam Lawrence’s men have had a perfect start to the new U18 Premier League campaign with five wins out of five and this follows on from their triumphs last season.

They won three trophies in the 2023/24 campaign which included a Premier League Cup final win over Manchester City. Gabriel was involved in the squad that day – training with the team before the game.

Gabriel, who has been nicknamed ‘Kid Messi’ on social media, is one of the most exciting players in the entire United academy and has been impressing for the Under-16s despite only turning 14 this month.

The report adds that while there is no desire to rush the young teenager into getting starting minutes with the Under-18s side, coaches have been blown away by Gabriel’s talent.

This has led to them rewarding the player by making him part of the training group to test his capabilities against players significantly older than him.

He recently visited FC Barcelona for a La Liga fixture and received a signed shirt from Lamine Yamal. Some have speculated whether a move could be on the cards but it is clear that United are not willing to let the teenager go easily.

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