JJ Gabriel: Barcelona sporting director denies interest in Manchester United teenager

Barcelona’s sporting director Deco said the club has no interest in pursuing Manchester United teenager JJ Gabriel.

Gabriel, 15, travelled to the Spanish city after informing United that he wanted to leave Old Trafford earlier this month.

Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Paris St-Germain are among the clubs reportedly keen on securing his signature.

“There’s nothing to say about this boy,” Deco said at a news conference.

“It’s normal we always have players linked with us. There’s a huge market for that, even when they are young.

“We are not interested in any player in his situation. I’m not sure what’s happening, and if he’s still a Manchester United player. We are not involved in that.

“First of all, we need to understand how the situation is before we try to do something. To speak about young, teenage players, it is not our business.”

Gabriel has not trained at United since scoring a hat-trick on his Uefa Youth League debut on 10 September.

Tournament rules prevent him from playing for a side other than United in this season’s competition.

But if he obtains a European Union passport through either his father – a former Republic of Ireland international – or mother, who has Greek-Cypriot heritage, he could join a club in the EU when he turns 16 on 6 October.

Last week, United manager Michael Carrick urged for people to be “careful and sensible” about the amount of exposure and scrutiny given to the youngster.