Manchester United are set to lose England Under-17 forward JJ Gabriel, who has asked to leave the club months after being named Player of the Season in the Under-18 Premier League.
The Man United teenager's decision has thrust him even further into the spotlight than his playing prospects already had. Gabriel is 15 years old and the truth is nobody should be taking an interest in anything he does.
That's a bigger problem that football as a whole needs to start taking seriously, but as far as Gabriel goes, it's likely to prove a mis-step for Man United to fumble his progress.
Arsenal's Max Dowman is a demonstration of what might have been
Man United have had opportunities to demonstrate their faith in Gabriel and show him that the route to first team football has been laid out.
While it's possible to question the youngster's desire to leave before he's even 16 years of age, the advice he's receiving, and the rights and wrongs of other clubs sniffing around him, there is an example in the Premier League that points to a better outcome.
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Down at Arsenal, 16-year-old Max Dowman has been given chances and taken them. The Premier League champions have a young talent of their own, and he made his league debut at 15.
Dowman is increasingly being tipped for a senior England call-up, a stark contrast with Gabriel even at this absurdly early stage in both of their careers.
Arsenal have managed Dowman through without over-use. He has six Premier League appearances to his name and another eight in the cups. He's played in the Champions League three times but his lone senior appearance this season was in Tuesday's Carabao Cup win at Ipswich Town.
He scored twice, and therein lies the clue that might have served Man United in Gabriel's case. Dowman is an obvious talent but he won't be thrown in for frequent appearances regardless of those goals.
Mikel Arteta is biding his time. Notably, though, Dowman has had sufficient chances to impress.
Dowman and Gabriel are different people with their own minds and their own advisors, but it's hard to ignore the sense that Man United could have thrown him a bone if they'd wanted.
It wouldn't have been to their detriment either; the Red Devils obviously believe he has huge potential. He might have been in line to play against Brighton & Hove Albion in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday but took himself out of contention with his request to leave.
But when Man United were preparing to play their Champions League opener against Azeri champions Sabah, Gabriel was scoring a hat-trick against them in the UEFA Youth League.
Perhaps the young forward is getting ahead of himself for whatever reason – that isn't and shouldn't be any of our business, and Man United have their own reasons to select him or not – but there's a good chance Dowman would have been selected in an equivalent Arsenal match.
If that's the difference between keeping and losing a top prospect, it could be a decision they come to regret.
