LIKE FATHER, like son.
A glance at JJ Gabriel’s Instagram feed and his father’s X profile show no posts.
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Gabriel, 15, deleted every Instagram upload last week. His father, Joe, has a tendency to delete posts and replies.
The timing is odd when this week could be the week that Gabriel becomes Manchester United’s youngest ever player.
United host Brighton in the League Cup third round on Wednesday. Rotation is inevitable, senior players are injured and Gabriel is eligible to play.
Maybe he won’t now that Gabriel has asked to leave. It cannot be a coincidence it came after two 19-year-olds made their Champions League debuts for United last week.
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Resentment is rife among parents and guardians of academy players. Gabriel’s father, Joe O’Cearuill, has been described as a “nightmare” and a “problem” by industry sources.
“The dad was a problem when the boy was six at West Ham,” an agency source said.
“This will be mega if he moves,” a separate agency source said. “The Premier League check to ensure there has been no tapping up will be so thorough. United will demand huge compensation, I would imagine.
“If there’s an agent involved that agent/agency will likely kill their relationship with United.”
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Friday 18 September
Brentford
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Gabriel’s dad, Joe O’Cearuill, was a professional footballer briefly on Arsenal’s books who played for Brighton in a journeyman career.
He was capped twice by the Republic of Ireland on a post-season tour of the United States in 2007, three years before Gabriel was born.
O’Cearuill has publicly boasted about his son’s development and recently direct messaged an X user whose son had nabbed a Gabriel All Kings rookie card in a Topps packet, like it was one of Willy Wonka’s golden tickets.
Earlier this year, O’Cearuill bit back at a user who claimed his son was “like any other player”.
O’Cearuill claimed that Bukayo Saka “was not even great at 17” and on the bench in an “average” Arsenal FA Youth Cup side. He then likened Gabriel to Neymar, Lamine Yamal and Lionel Messi.
Gabriel posed with Cristiano Ronaldo’s son for his United ‘unveiling’ four years ago but was nicknamed “kid Messi”.
A well-informed source said Gabriel’s name change was to make him more “brandable”.
O’Cearuill moved his family to north-west England as he was convinced United valued his son’s potential, frustrated by London coaches dismissing Gabriel as a “YouTuber”.
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His son still does out-of-hours individual ball work and has been described as “football obsessed”.
Gabriel is softly spoken and United insiders note how polite he is with all staff.
His parents and siblings regularly attended academy matches last season as he plundered 26 goals in 26 games to claim United’s Jimmy Murphy Young Player of the Year award.
Gabriel’s portrait adorns the plaque in the Jimmy Murphy Centre at United’s Carrington training complex. Past winners include Ryan Giggs, Pauk Scholes, Danny Welbeck, Marcus Rashford, Alejandro Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo.
Gabriel’s inclusion in United’s official Premier League squad numbers list on the morning of their opening fixture at Hull City was striking.
His profile on the United website is still among the Under-18s. There is not a headshot or a biography as the club attempts to keep his ascension as low-key as possible.
There was no expectation that Gabriel would be at the MKM Stadium but, in the club’s social media graphic there, at number 77, was Gabriel’s name.
United listed some token inclusions, such as the training goalkeeper Dermot Mee and the Fletcher twins, though the latter two have both debuted.
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But the addition of Gabriel felt significant in a season where United insiders expect him to make his debut.
United have bent over backwards to placate Gabriel, or, more accurately, his father. It has not worked.
Gabriel was not eligible to play in United’s Champions League opener against Sabah last week as he was not named in the squad’s A list, which consists primarily of senior players.
He was also too young to be added to the B list. Uefa rules state: “Players can be added to the ‘B List’ if they are born on or after 1 January 2005 and have, since their 15th birthday, been eligible to play for an uninterrupted period of two years, or for a total of three consecutive years with a maximum one-year loan spell at a club from the same association.”
Gabriel turns 16 on October 6, so could technically be added to the B list before United’s second league format fixture at Atletico Madrid on October 13.
But Azerbaijani side Sabah, Champions League newbies and the lowest-ranked of the 36 teams in the competition, were as close to a League Cup gimme as United were going to get.
Carrick sent on 19-year-olds Shea Lacey and Harry Amass for their Champions League bows in the 70th minute. That is believed to have been the straw that broke the camel’s back for Gabriel’s entourage.
Gabriel instead started for the U19s earlier that day at Leigh Sports Village, where he hit a hat-trick.
He is easily United’s youngest debutant in that competition and the likelihood is Gabriel will appear in the U18s’ FA Youth Cup ties, having suffered defeat in the final to Manchester City last season.
Gabriel last month scored on his debut for the U21s, a level where players can quickly stagnate. As obviously beneficial as it is for Gabriel to play for United’s reserves and against European opponents, it is possible some of his cheerleaders could become impatient the longer he waits for a senior bow.
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If Gabriel does not appear against Brighton in midweek, the U21s face Leicester on Friday night.
That might not be worthy of an Instagram post.
Man Utd ratings: Diogo Dalot and Patrick Dorgu prove costly at the back as Kobbie Mainoo impressive in the middle
DIOGO DALOT and Patrick Dorgu exposed Man Utd’s defensive frailties as bitter rivals Man City stole all three points in the Manchester derby
Erling Haaland scored a hugely controversial winner after VAR overturned an offside call.
Replays showed Patrick Dorgu played Haaland onside, while City’s new £125million man Enzo Fernandez was incredibly deemed to have not been interfering with play.
Kobbie Mainoo was really put to the test against a rock solid City midfielder, but grabbed the game by the lapels in the second half and was hugely unlucky not to score.
Here’s how SunSport’s Samuel Luckhurst rated the Red Devils at Old Trafford.
Friday 18 September
Brentford
20:00
EPL
Chelsea
Saturday 19 September
Spurs
12:30
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Brighton
15:00
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Arsenal
Everton
15:00
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Newcastle
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Forest
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Monday 14 September
Leeds
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Man Utd
0 – 1
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Coventry
0 – 5
EPL
Brighton
Saturday 12 September
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Friday 18 September
Brentford
20:00
EPL
Chelsea
Saturday 19 September
Spurs
12:30
EPL
Villa
Brighton
15:00
EPL
Arsenal
Everton
15:00
EPL
Ipswich
Newcastle
15:00
EPL
Hull
Forest
17:30
EPL
Coventry
Monday 14 September
Leeds
4 – 1
EPL
Newcastle
Sunday 13 September
Man Utd
0 – 1
EPL
Man City
Coventry
0 – 5
EPL
Brighton
Saturday 12 September
Sunderland
0 – 2
EPL
Arsenal
Spurs
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Everton
English Premier League
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