Michael Carrick makes first public comments about JJ Gabriel after Man United transfer bombshell

Michael Carrick has stressed being careful around JJ Gabriel's future in his first comments about the teenager since it emerged he wants to leave the club.

Reports emerged on Tuesday that the 15-year-old has asked the Red Devils to leave the club, with several massive teams interested.

5

talkSPORT understands that Real Madrid and Barcelona are keen on recruiting the young forward with Los Blancos leading the race to sign him.

And following Man United's collapse at home to Brighton and Hove Albion in the Carabao Cup, Carrick was asked about Gabriel.

The Red Devils were 2-0 up but lost 3-2 to be dumped out of the League Cup at the first time of asking for the second season running.

And speaking to Sky Sports, he said: "We have to be a little bit careful on that one. He's a 15-year-old boy.

"It's more about the welfare, the care and the attention of JJ as a child really.

"He's certainly a young man. The situation is what it is, but we have to be careful about the exposure on that one."

JJ Gabriel's future

Gabriel was labelled as a 'generational talent' by Man United legend Ryan Giggs, but he has now informed the powers that be that he would like to depart.

And he has sent a formal notice to Man United to have his contract cancelled. It follows his debut in the UEFA Youth League in which he scored a hat-trick, and it's not just Real Madrid and Barcelona who are keen.

Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City have all shown interest after being informed in the summer that Gabriel was contemplating a departure.

However, Los Blancos are the frontrunners for his signature, and Gabriel was set to be involved against the Seagulls.

5

But with formal notice being handed in, it was decided to leave him out as Man United were knocked out.

There is the possibility that any move abroad could be blocked by FIFA due to rules they have on players switching countries.

Any player under the age of 18 that wants to join a team in another country must prove that their family are moving for 'non-footballing reasons'.

If this can't be done, the transfer for Gabriel to Barcelona or Real Madrid could be blocked.

Man United can also refuse to cancel his registration, which would then mean Gabriel's next option would be to appeal to the Premier League.

5

5

Manchester United 2-3 Brighton

On the pitch, it was another evening to forget for Man United who lost a home game after being 2-0 up for the first time since 1976.

The home side responded to that controversial defeat in the Manchester derby by racing into a two-goal lead.

Shea Lacey brilliantly fired home from inside the area, and Mason Mount scored a rebound moments later.

But from there, it totally collapsed.

Karl Darlow failed to deal with a long ball forward, allowing Seagulls striker Charalampos Kostoulas to finish.

Pascal Gross then sold a dummy to Leny Yoro in the box to create space and drive in a low shot to equalise.

The winner came as Kostoulas got down the right and drove in a cross that deflected into Maxime De Cuyper's path, and he poked into the top corner.

5

And Carrick couldn't really believe what happened.

Speaking after the game, he said: “The start of the game and the end of the game was completely different. It didn’t feel like the same game and certainly not the same emotions at all.

“We had the game exactly where we wanted it but we let it get away from us in a big way. That’s the story of the game.

“There’s a number of things that we’ll look and dissect and I know quite a bit of where it went wrong.

“We can’t accept that and I take responsibility for it. The performance towards the end of the second half is on me.

“We’ll all be better. We all have to get better for a big game we have on Sunday that we need to prepare for.

“We’re out of this competition and we need to get back to winning football matches because it doesn’t feel good, let me tell you. But if we’re to get back to winning football matches we need to do a lot of things better.”