Inside Track: We’re still in the dark over JJ’s next move
Inside Track with Joe Carroll
Still no word from across the water. And it seems Manchester United are being kept out of the loop as well.
Anyone who’s been looking in on these pages on even rare occasions would know what we’re on about here is the ongoing JJ Gabriel saga.
It has been grist to the Inside Track mill over the past few years, and has also made it into the dailies, and, we’re told, been covered extensively online.
To recap – mostly for the benefit of those who are opening these pages for the first time, or who don’t, like us, bother with social media – JJ Gabriel was christened Joseph Junior Ó Cearuill, a surname which translates to Carroll.
He’s son of Joe Ó Cearuill, and is one of the hottest properties in English soccer right now. He recently celebrated his 16th birthday (no invitation to the party came this way), and has been on the Man United books since he was 11.
His name has been changed to make him more marketable, but we wonder was that necessary. When he was still known as Ó Cearuill, he attracted the attention of Real Madrid, and has now the other Spanish giants, Barcelona, along with Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain, also keeping a watching brief.
What they’re anxious to know is what JJ is going to do next following his walk-out from Old Trafford. That happened about three weeks ago, and he hasn’t been seen around the place since. Nor has any of his handlers been on to IT for advice.
He is said to favour a move to the continent, but if he were to go to another Premier League club, they’d have to negotiate with United. And if the fee wasn’t acceptable to the United, they could go to a tribunal.
If that were to happen, a report last week said that United could expect to receive £3 million, plus 20% if the player was transferred to another club.
Yes, that’s the value that’s been put on the young man, who, for the past couple of seasons has been banging goals for United in all grades of underage football up to under-21.
He has also played for England, which would rule him out of playing for the Republic of Ireland, following in the footsteps of his father.
As always, Inside Track will keep an eye on proceedings, but as said before, there’s some disappointment here over the silence from the other side of the Irish Sea.
There’s no controversy surrounding another starlet – and why should there be? Max Dowman is perfectly at home at The Emeratis, playing at the highest level for Arsenal.
Max has a few of his teenage years still to go, but already has been the youngest to play in the Premier League, score a goal in it, and make an appearance in the Champions League. He’s got certificates for it, the ones handed out by the Guinness World Records compliers.
He had yet to sit for his GCE exam when he achieved one of those feats. And the chant from the Arsenal crowd? “He’s going to school in the morning.”