JJ Gabriel issues one-word response after Man Utd debut snub

Manchester United wonderkid JJ Gabriel insists he is prepared to wait for his first-team debut after being denied minutes in Friday’s friendly defeat of Rosenborg.

The 15-year-old is among the highest-rated prospects in the United academy and starred as he played up for the Under-18s last season.

He is set to be fast-tracked into Michael Carrick’s first-team this season and will hope to make his senior debut this summer.

There seemed a good chance to do so as United faced Rosenborg in a friendly in Norway on Friday evening, winning 5-0, but Carrick made the surprise decision to leave him on the bench.

That move drew plenty of consternation from supporters, who have been baying for some time to watch Gabriel ply his trade in the first team, but Gabriel himself was less frustrated.

There will be plenty more opportunities for Gabriel to make his first-team debut this summer as United face subsequent friendlies against Atletico Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain, Leeds and AC Milan.

Some of Gabriel’s academy colleagues played and got on the scoresheet against Rosenborg, with Shea Lacey, Jacob Devaney, Harry Amass and Ethan Williams all on target. Joshua Zirkzee was the only senior player to score.

Speaking at full-time, Carrick gushed over the youngsters’ collective impact: “This is the best place to be as a footballer when you're in that zone and you're confident and that's obviously my job, to try and get the players in that frame of mind.

“The senior players at this stage, they're finding their way, but you can see they're in a good place and kind of getting used to having good results over a period of time, which is good.

“The younger players, when you see them expressing themselves and being themselves and keep pushing themselves to be better, I think some of the play second half was really, really good.

“I was delighted to see that from them, because you hope that. They've all got potential in different ways, and you want them to fulfil it and keep pushing themselves and they certainly did that.”

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