Manchester United’s quest to keep JJ Gabriel at Old Trafford is well and truly over, with two sources claiming that Real Madrid have won the race for the teenager and will make an announcement imminently.

Gabriel made it clear to Man Utd back in September that he wanted to leave for good.

The teenager’s camp requested Man Utd to cancel his registration with immediate effect.

Man Utd denied that request and made attempts to convince him to stay.

However, Gabriel was always steadfast about leaving Man Utd.

The youngster turned 16 in October and has an Irish passport, meaning that he would be able to leave Man Utd for a club abroad in the January transfer window.

TEAMtalk’s transfer insider, Graeme Bailey, reported on November 5 that Real Madrid have won the race for Gabriel.

Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain all spoke to Gabriel’s camp, but the attacker has decided to join Real Madrid.

It has now emerged in the Spanish media that Madrid, who appointed Jose Mourinho as the first-team manager in the summer of 2026, will finalise a deal for Gabriel in the coming days, with an announcement imminent.

Real Madrid to sign JJ Gabriel from Man Utd

AS, a Real Madrid-centric Spanish publication, has reported that Gabriel will ‘announce his destination in the coming days’.

The report has added: ‘Real Madrid has won the battle against Barcelona, ​​PSG, and Bayern Munich, the other clubs interested in the Manchester United prodigy destined to be one of the footballing stars of the next two decades.

‘The Red Devils did everything possible to keep him, but the player’s decision remained unchanged.’

Real Madrid journalist Ben Fernandes Santos, who has over 21,000 followers on X, reported at 12:36pm on November 11, 2026: “EXCL. – JJ Gabriel will sign his contract with Real Madrid by the start of next week at the latest.

“The deal is about to be finalised.

“The entire EPIC Sports leadership team is in Madrid to finalise the details.

“Real Madrid have won the race.”

Sport, a Barcelona-leaning publication, though, has claimed that Man Utd have ‘not received any formal communication from Real Madrid or the player’s family’ and will go ‘to war’ to keep Gabriel if they think that any rules have been violated.

The report added: ‘Furthermore, it is considering legal action if it believes regulations were violated during negotiations.

‘Real Madrid intends to take advantage of the possibility that Gabriel will obtain the necessary EU documentation to join before turning 18, although the operation must comply with FIFA regulations on international transfers of minors.

‘Here’s the situation: there’s a verbal agreement and Real Madrid is confident of finalising the signing, but there’s still no formal transfer or confirmed authorisation from the federation.

‘Manchester United, meanwhile, is keeping open the possibility of taking legal action.’