AS: JJ gabriel trains alone in Madrid as Real Madrid pushes for signing

According to AS, Manchester United's 16-year-old rising star JJ Gabriel is training alone in Madrid to stay in shape, and Real Madrid is moving forward with a deal to sign the player.

At 9:54 AM local time, a lean teenager, already dressed in training gear, stepped out of a British-licensed SUV and entered the Ángel Nieto Municipal Sports Center in Boadilla del Monte, Madrid. He grabbed a bag of footballs and headed straight to one of the pitches, almost like a player from the local New Boadilla team. But he is JJ Gabriel, one of the latest teenage prodigies in world football, and the kind of generational talent clubs are fiercely pursuing. Real Madrid is one of them, and as AS has continuously reported, Real Madrid is moving forward with a deal to sign the player, whose rights belong to Manchester United.

But JJ Gabriel is unconcerned by these distractions; he just wants to keep training while he waits for his future to be decided. He expects to become a Real Madrid player and wants to be physically prepared for it. Reporters witnessed the attacker's solo training firsthand; he is a forward or winger who completes dribbling drills at extremely high speeds.

He was accompanied by his private technical coach, Jack Hunter, an expert who has been working with him in Manchester since June, and whose clients also include Aston Villa's Dutch international full-back Maatsen. In addition, two assistants and his father were present. JJ Gabriel put on his boots and performed different types of drills on Pitch 2 of the municipal grounds: short-distance ball control and passing, shooting finishes, and pure physical training. They even "borrowed" a young goalkeeper from a football school visiting Boadilla to act as a sparring partner on the goal line. A barrage of shots followed. JJ Gabriel's technique is quite refined, despite obvious limitations—he has to hone his skills without defensive opposition, unable to train in a more match-like environment.

Currently, he has no other option; the key word is patience. Real Madrid has already beaten out competition from Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain, and Bayern, and Manchester United has accepted losing him after failing to retain him. As AS has consistently reported, even being called up to Manchester United's first team for a cup match at age 15 did not change his mind. Now, it only remains for the final steps of his move to Valdebebas to be completed. Since his 16th birthday on October 6, from a legal and bureaucratic perspective, this transfer is no longer off-limits. He can provide an EU passport through family connections (his mother is Cypriot), thus being unaffected by the consequences of Brexit. His destination in the Real Madrid youth system will be Real MadridCastilla, but with a carefully planned path to the first team.

Real Madrid, his family, and JJ Gabriel himself all wish for this, but for now, they need to wait and respect the schedule. The talented forward exchanged fist bumps with reporters but made no statements. Neither did his father, Joe, who is his guide (a former professional player who represented the Irish national team), even though he has received advice from the highest level of consultants. Serious yet impeccably discreet. The guideline is to maintain a low profile and not miss any training session—despite the bad weather and some rain yesterday morning in Boadilla—to keep this complex deal moving forward, meter by meter.

Currently, JJ Gabriel and his team will continue this routine until new instructions are given. Training alone is also to avoid potential injuries. The goal is to maintain optimal condition to integrate and play for the Real Madrid reserves as soon as possible. Real MadridCastilla has long proven to be an ideal testing ground for special cases (Vinicius, Rodrygo, and even Takefusa Kubo all played there briefly), and there are clear precedents, such as Ødegaard—another player who, at 16, stirred half of Europe's sporting directors and ultimately chose Real Madrid. A similar situation is now happening with Sergio Martínez, for whom the club paid Racing Santander 3 million euros a few days before the transfer window closed, and Mourinho is slowly integrating him into the Real Madrid first team.

For the club, everything about this signing must be thoroughly and carefully handled. The club is very sensitive to FIFA regulations and does not want to create an institutional crisis with Manchester United. Therefore, this signing has no deadline, at least not yet. But meanwhile, JJ Gabriel continues to hone his skills. In Madrid, close to where he hopes to make his home.