Barcelona sporting director Deco has moved to shut down speculation linking his club with Manchester United's 15-year-old winger JJ Gabriel, insisting the Catalan side have no interest in signing the teenager.
Asked directly about Gabriel at the Portugal Football Summit, Deco was unequivocal. "No, there is nothing to say about this boy. It's normal that players are linked with us, there are huge markets involved with that even when they are young. We are not interested in any player in his situation," he told GiveMeSport's Ben Jacobs. "I'm not sure what's happening, I don't know, he's still a Man United player, we're not involved in that, we need to understand all the situations before we try to do something and speak about young, teenage players that are not our business."
The denial comes despite Gabriel having been photographed in Barcelona alongside Lamine Yamal and holding a Barca shirt bearing the Spanish winger's name and number. The teenager and his family were in the city last week, with Deco having met Gabriel's representative Ali Barat over that same weekend.
Gabriel formally submitted a request to have his registration cancelled with immediate effect — a step that stunned United's hierarchy. The club has refused to tear up the registration and, through director of football Jason Wilcox, chief executive Omar Berrada and minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe, continues to work on persuading Gabriel and his family to stay. The youngster has not been seen at the club since scoring a hat-trick on his UEFA Youth League debut against FK Sabah a fortnight ago.
United head coach Michael Carrick has been careful in his public comments on the matter. "He's a young boy, JJ," Carrick said. "I think the exposure and the scrutiny and everything, you've got to be careful and be sensible and think of him as much as anything. So the situation will work itself out, whatever way it's going to work itself out. Making sure he's okay is the important thing."
Gabriel turns 16 on 6 October, at which point he will be eligible to appoint an agent and, with his Irish passport, move to a club on the continent. Were he to leave under those circumstances, United would receive only around £300,000 in compensation. Barat, who runs Epic Sports Football, is widely expected to formally represent Gabriel once that birthday passes.
Real Madrid have been identified as rivals to Barcelona for Gabriel's signature. Reports from Spain suggest Madrid's financial offer is considerably more substantial than anything Barca have tabled, and that Gabriel's camp have informed both Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain that a move to one of the two Spanish giants is the priority. A final decision from the Gabriel camp is said to be expected within days.
Within England, Arsenal and Chelsea have been credited with an interest, though neither club has moved beyond monitoring the situation. Gabriel was due to be named in the United first-team squad for a Carabao Cup tie against Brighton & Hove Albion, but news of his de-registration request broke the day before the match and he did not feature.
The previous season the forward scored 23 goals in 23 games in the Under-18 Premier League, earning the player of the season award for that competition. He has since been part of United's Under-21 setup, registering two goals and two assists from two matches this term.
Reporting: Daily Mail, talkSPORT, GiveMeSport, FourFourTwo, Football Insider, Metro, TeamTalk, Sport Witness, Evening Standard.