Manchester United’s Under-18s secured a 4-3 win on Tuesday in their Premier League U18 Cup quarterfinal against West Brom, but the match was somewhat marred by Gabriel’s sending-off. The 15-year-old is regarded as one of the most promising talents in the club’s academy and has already trained with the first team this season. He has also played at Old Trafford in the current campaign and looked at home at the famous stadium, scoring the winning goal in an FA Youth Cup match against Peterborough. However, he has now made headlines for negative reasons after being sent off against the Baggies. The red card also carries a potential three-match ban for Gabriel, meaning he could be sidelined for a spell.

Gabriel was incensed by the decision on social media. He posted a video of the incident on his Instagram stories with the caption: “How can this be a yellow, let alone a red, how?”

According to BBC Sport, Manchester United is expected to appeal the decision. The 15-year-old player currently faces a three-match ban that would rule him out for United against Oxford United on February 18 in the FA Youth Cup fifth round, as well as in the Under-18 Premier League matches against Manchester City and Wolverhampton Wanderers with Darren Fletcher’s team.

Gabriel is only 15 but is already making waves in the Manchester United youth ranks and has drawn plenty of praise. His former manager, Ruben Amorim, also called him up to train with the first team and shared his thoughts on this young prodigy. “Like everyone, I know he is a really talented guy,” he said. “We try to pick players for training that have talent, not just for me to see for the future, but for them to feel what it means to be in the first team, the difficulties of playing against our defenders, the difficulty and pace of our training. If we can use every training session to show the kids what they need to do to be here, it is important, not just for JJ, but for everyone.”

Club legend Wayne Rooney has also given his verdict after seeing Gabriel play alongside his eldest son, Kai. On “The Wayne Rooney Show,” he said: “There’s a young lad at Manchester United who sounds very similar. JJ Gabriel, I think he’s got millions of followers, and he’s on the same team as my boy. I’ve watched him grow up and develop, and he’s a fantastic player. He’s got such a bright future.”

Gabriel now faces an anxious wait to see if Manchester United can successfully appeal the dismissal. If not, he will be forced to watch his team from the sidelines for the coming weeks.

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