Man Utd are looking to bring young Valerenga attacker Gabriel Rajkovic to Old Trafford amid uncertainty around JJ Gabriel, according to reports.
The Red Devils have one of the hottest prospects in world football on their hands with JJ Gabriel, who is set to turn 16 in October, already attracting interest from numerous clubs.
The Man Utd youth star scored a hat-trick in one half of football last week as he played against FC Sabah’s Under-19s on his UEFA Youth League debut with excitement growing over his talent.
It was reported earlier this week that JJ Gabriel has asked to leave Man Utd with Chelsea, Real Madrid and Barcelona among the clubs who have held talks over a potential deal for the Red Devils academy product.
Fabrizio Romano insisted earlier on Friday that Man Utd are still trying to keep JJ Gabriel at Old Trafford but the boy’s mind seems to be made up.
Romano said on his YouTube channel: “It’s a really complicated situation from several points of view, because when you have a wonderkid like JJ Gabriel, 15 years old and about to turn 16 in October, obviously you want to keep him. You want to trust him and you want to see the boy after he was already discussed internally at Man United for a long time – years, actually – as one of the best talents they’ve ever seen at the club.
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“So they absolutely want to keep him and want to continue with him. They are still in shock with what happened in recent days.
“On the other side, when a player so young, and his camp, of course – his family – decides to take a strong position, as JJ Gabriel and his camp did by asking to leave the club, obviously the disappointment is very strong.
“What United want to make sure is that if there is even a small chance to continue together with JJ Gabriel, to resolve the situation and to keep him at the club, it has to be with the right attitude and the right feeling.
“United don’t want to force anyone. Obviously they want to keep the boy. Obviously they don’t want to lose one of the best talents in the world at 15 years old, but at the same time they don’t want to force anyone.
“What they will do these days is try to have a conversation with the family of the player, with the agents of the player and with the player himself to try to resolve the situation.
“So Man United are not giving up. Man United are still hoping to keep JJ Gabriel at the club. They know and recognise that it’s going to be complicated, that it’s not easy and that, as of today, their chances are not so high, but Man United are still trying.
“I think this case will involve the most important people at the club. I mean Sir Jim Ratcliffe, I mean the directors, I mean the coach. So it’s going to be about everyone at Manchester United to make sure whatever happens is the right situation.
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“At the moment, the reality tells us that the player wants to go, the player wants to leave, he wants his contract terminated, and the player is not even training, as I said yesterday here on the video. So you can understand how complicated this situation is.”
Valerenga ‘super talent’ is a Man Utd fan
And now Man Utd are already trying to fill his spot in the academy with another young attacker after TV2 revealed that the Red Devils sent officials to watch Valerenga ‘super talent’ Rajkovic in action.
At this point, neither Man Utd or Barcelona are ‘leading the race’ for the Norwegian youngster, with it ‘not true’ that Arsenal and Chelsea ‘have gained an advantage over the many competing clubs’.
Adding more details on Man Utd interest, TV2 added: ‘Rajkovic has previously been open about the fact that throughout his childhood he has had Manchester United as his favorite club – without it necessarily being a decisive lead for where he wants to go.
‘Now TV 2 can learn that scouts from Manchester United were in the stands when Rajkovic equalised in overtime away against Sarpsborg 08 earlier this month.’
Any deal would likely shatter Valerenga’s record sale with the club not allowing him to leave for less than 200m NKK (£16m).