Manchester United appear resigned to losing JJ Gabriel, and the 16-year-old has now broken his silence two months after walking out on the club

JJ Gabriel says Real Madrid is "obviously" better than Barcelona after speaking publicly for the first time since requesting to leave Manchester United.

Gabriel, 16, has spent the last six weeks working with a personal trainer in Spain, first in the Catalan town of Castelldefels, and more recently in Spain's capital city. Real Madrid have reportedly reached a verbal agreement in principle to sign the forward, but United sources insist they have not yet received any direct contact.

Gabriel's family are also said to have kept the club that still holds his registration in the dark. However, he has now spoken.

Spanish sports newspaper Marca gave him a copy of Thursday's edition after he finished training on Friday afternoon. The paper's front cover, featuring a photo of Gabriel, declares that his transfer to Real Madrid is imminent.

While posing for a photo with his copy, Gabriel is said to have asked, "Can I keep it?" Apparently grateful for the gift, he also said: "My dream is to win a Ballon d'Or".

Marca also questioned the teenager about why Madrid is better than Barcelona, to which he said: "Obviously, Madrid". His father, Joe O'Cearuill, apparently reaffirmed his son's remark with a laugh.

The report adds that his agent, Ali Barat, who has represented him for less than a month, is already looking for accommodation in Madrid to house Gabriel and his family. That is said to be happening at the same time as negotiating the terms of his client's new contract.

Gabriel appears set to join Castilla, Madrid's reserve team, who play in Spain's semi-professional third tier. Casemiro and Vinicius Junior are just two examples of players who have signed for their B team.

Their current captain, Federico Valverde, also did so. Gabriel, however, was already playing regular under-21s football at United.

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The club's record appearance maker, Ryan Giggs, has questioned why his camp wants to move. He told Rio Ferdinand's YouTube channel: "So far in his career, everything is going fine; why would you disrupt that? You're on the right track.

"I trained at 15. I didn't play for the first team until two years later, so you have to have that patience that people just don't seem to have at the moment.

"And believe it or not, first-team football for Man United is completely different to playing in the youth team; playing pre-season for the first team is completely different."