Manchester United academy star makes “unbelievable” statement after unique promotion

One Manchester United academy star has made an “unbelievable” statement after being given a unique promotion at Carrington.

A recent MailOnline report reveals that 14-year-old prodigy JJ Gabriel has been promoted to train with Manchester United’s highly successful Under-18s squad.

Adam Lawrence’s team has had a flawless start to their U18 Premier League season, winning all five of their matches, continuing the momentum from last season when they won three trophies, including a Premier League Cup final victory over Manchester City.

Gabriel was part of the squad for that final, training with the team ahead of the game despite being just 13 years of age at the time.

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

Dubbed ‘Kid Messi’ on social media, Gabriel is seen as one of the brightest prospects in United’s academy. Despite only turning 14 this month, he has already been making waves with the Under-16s.

While there’s no rush to give him minutes in the U18s, coaches have been highly impressed by his skills, the aforementioned report adds.

This led them to reward him with the chance to train alongside the older group, testing his abilities against more experienced players.

Unbelievable Gabriel continues to impress

It is a unique opportunity for a player to play several age groups above and often saved for the very best talents within a club’s academy set-up.

Gabriel has continued to impress this week after scoring a hat-trick in an Academy fixture against Blackburn at Carrington on Tuesday.

According to the Manchester Evening News, the 14-year-old’s finishing has been described as ‘unbelievable’ by someone within United’s youth system.

It looked to be a statement display from the teenager shortly after being promoted to train consistently with the Under-18s.

With the talent he is showing, it would be no surprise to see Gabriel make his Under-18s debut at some point this season.

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