JJ Gabriel becomes Premier League-eligible as United manage his development

JJ Gabriel is now eligible to make his Premier League debut after turning 15. Manchester United are taking a cautious approach to his development and expect him to feature during pre-season before deciding whether he should step up to the Under-21s or move closer to the senior squad.

Gabriel has not yet trained with the first team this summer and was not included in the squad for the pre-season friendly against Wrexham, but he is "expected to get some minutes" during United's summer programme as the club assesses his next step. Newly-appointed head coach Michael Carrick urged patience: "He’s too young.

JJ’s doing really well. JJ is a big talent, it's pretty obvious and he has had a good season for U-18s. We think an awful lot of him. But patience is important in managing everything that comes with that and developing him and picking the right moment to step up, to leave them in a certain place.

jj gabriel, manchester united, premier league, debut, pre-season, under-21s, u-18s, michael carrick, first team, development