Wayne Rooney says J. Gabriel's exit from Manchester United was expected, and he has gone as far as saying the club did everything they could to keep the 15-year-old. Rooney also pointed to the scale of the battle now building around him, with Barcelona and Real Madrid among the clubs still circling before Gabriel turns 16 on 6 October.

"I think that anyone close to it knew that was coming. In fairness to Manchester United, they've done everything, they've done absolutely everything to keep him, to keep him at the club," Rooney said.

Manchester United rejected Gabriel's formal request for his youth registration to be terminated, which underlines how far the club were prepared to go to hold on to him. Rooney added that Gabriel is a special talent and said he would have made his first-team debut at some point this season, which is part of why the departure stings from United's point of view.

United's struggle to keep him

The concern for United is not just that they may lose a highly rated teenager, but that the wider situation already looks messy. The club are 12th in the Premier League after five games and have scored 8 while conceding 8, a flat league return that does little to strengthen the case for impatient young players.

Rooney's comments fit that mood. He knows Gabriel personally, having seen him grow up and play in Kai's team, and his view is that the move was already obvious to people around the player.

Barcelona and Real Madrid are still in the mix

The race for Gabriel is not settled, and that matters in its own right. Reports have narrowed the battle to Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern München and PSG, with Christian Falk saying elite European clubs are still in the frame and that Gabriel wants to win titles.

Barcelona's league position and Madrid's standing add to the appeal. Barca sit first in La Liga, while Real are fourth, and both clubs remain more convincing landing spots than a United side trying to steady itself.

Falk also said Gabriel turns 16 on 6 October, the date when he can make key decisions about his future. If that timetable holds, the uncertainty around United's teenage prospect will not last much longer, and the next firm milestone is his birthday on 6 October.

Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 9 outlets. How we work →