JJ Gabriel has revealed the key motivation behind his impending move to Real Madrid after turning his back on Manchester United.
Gabriel, who turned 16 on October 6, informed United of his desire to leave in September and has not trained with the club since then.
The young forward has attracted interest from several clubs across Europe, but has now reached a verbal agreement to join Real Madrid.
The forward joined United’s academy four years ago and quickly established himself as one of the most highly-rated youngsters at the club, featuring for the U18 side at the age of just 14.
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Gabriel played under Michael Carrick during the club’s pre-season camp, but his entourage are understood to have grown unhappy with his first-team integration and playing opportunities at United.
The teenager, who has an Irish passport, could finalise a move to the Spanish giants as early as January next year, with United reportedly set to receive £350,000 in compensation.
And in a brief interview with the Spanish outlet Marca, Gabriel revealed he has one particular goal in mind for his time at Real.
‘My dream is to win a Ballon d’Or,’ he said.
When asked about a potential move to Barcelona instead, Gabriel simply responded: ‘Obviously, Madrid.’
A move to Real is a bold step at such a young age, and United legend Ryan Giggs believes Gabriel may have been better served following the example of Max Dowman, whose development is not being rushed by Arsenal or Mikel Arteta.
‘So far in his career everything is going fine, why would you disrupt that? You’re on the right track,’ Giggs said of Gabriel on Rio Ferdinand Presents.
‘I trained at 15, I didn’t play for the first team until two years later so you have to have that patience that people just don’t seem to have at the moment.
‘And believe it or not, first-team football for Man United is completely different to playing in the youth team, playing pre-season for the first team, it’s completely different. That first game, yeah, you might do alright, but you have to do it for 40, 50 games a season. You’re going to get injuries, loss of form, bad results, so you have to be patient.
‘If you’re on the right trajectory then just bide your time, no matter how good you are.
‘Max Dowman is unbelievable but he’s not playing for Arsenal at the moment.
‘I’m sure he’ll bide his time, I’m sure he’s getting impatient, but he’s not kicking off, he knows in a couple of years time he might be the main man for Arsenal.’
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