Manchester United have reportedly handed wonderkid JJ Gabriel a unique squad number.
Gabriel, 14, who has been dubbed as ‘Kid Messi’, is viewed as one of the most exciting prospects the Red Devils have ever produced.
Mail Sport reported exclusively on Monday how the 14-year-old is set to sign a new deal with the club despite interest from several major European teams, including United’s rivals.
Red Devils’ director of football Jason Wilcox and director of football negotiations Matt Hargreaves are said to have made a crucial intervention in the last week to persuade the teenager to remain in the north west.
Gabriel has subsequently been handed an official squad number for the new season and he posted a picture on social media wearing United’s training gear on Tuesday.
However, eagle-eyed fans noticed something different about the number the 14-year-old had been given.
Manchester United wonderkid JJ Gabriel, 14, has been handed the No 95 squad number
Gabriel is set to commit his future to the Red Devils after a crucial intervention from club chiefs
Several of United’s rivals were ‘desperate’ to get Gabriel who has been dubbed as ‘Kid Messi’
Gabriel was smiling with his thumbs up in United shorts and T-shirt in the picture with his squad number of 95 emblazoned on his gear.
And, according to Transfermarkt, that is the highest squad number in history handed out to a United player.
The previous record was held by Godwill Kunoki, a 17-year-old centre back, who wore the No 87 in 2024-25 and remains on the club’s books.
Gabriel, who recently signed a lucrative sponsorship deal with Nike and scored a brace on his United Under 18s debut back in April, grew up in London and previously had spells at Chelsea, Arsenal and West Ham.
The wonderkid, whose full name is Joseph Junior Andreou Gabriel, honed his technique in futsal as much as in football.
There is considerable hype surrounding Gabriel, and Alfie Brooks, owner of Ole Futsal and Gabriel’s specialist one-to-one coach, claimed he is already capable of stepping into a Premier League dressing room.
‘When he first started training, [his competitiveness] was the standout attribute,’ Brooks previously told Mail Sport’s Nathan Salt.
‘I’ve coached nearly 1,000 academy players over my time – four of them in Josh Nichols (Arsenal), Josh Acheampong (Chelsea), Sydie Peck (Sheffield United) and Tyrique George (Chelsea) have made their senior debuts – and JJ is the best I’ve ever seen.
When Cristiano Ronaldo Jnr was in United’s academy, Gabriel struck up a close friendship
Ronaldo Snr also took a shine to Gabriel, giving him a signed shirt upon leaving United
‘He could go into a Premier League changing room right now and technically he would be better than all of them. It wouldn’t even be close.’
At the age of six, he spent a week focusing on his keepy-ups. By the end of that week he could do 1,000 in a row, and was fast becoming the best player in matches against players years older than him.
At nine, Gabriel went viral with a YouTube video he appeared in under the moniker ‘Kid Messi’, a nickname the youngster is keen to shed, and now at 14 he is being called into the Under 18s as United press the accelerator on his development.
But it is Cristiano Ronaldo or Neymar who many talent-spotters believe he could one day mirror, more so than Messi.
Meanwhile, when Cristiano Ronaldo Jnr was part of the United academy, he struck up a very close friendship with Gabriel.
Presented together at Old Trafford with the No 7 (Ronaldo) and No 10 (Gabriel) shirts, they grew close and would often spend time together away from the pitch at Ronaldo Snr’s seven-bedroom mansion.
The Portugal and United icon even took a shine to young Gabriel, giving him a signed shirt as a parting gift before he left Manchester for Saudi Arabia.
Dan Ashworth, who was axed as sporting director by Sir Jim Ratcliffe last season, was another admirer of Gabriel while one team-mate in the Under 18s spoke of being ‘blown away’ by seeing the 14-year-old in their training sessions.
Gabriel’s career to date has been managed to the letter by his family with superstardom in mind. His dad, former Republic of Ireland international Joe O’Cearuill, changed the family’s surname to Gabriel in a nod to their religious beliefs as well as making the United starlet more brandable.
The decision was also taken to home-school Gabriel to maximise his prospects in football, while he follows a very strict diet to enhance performance. He is, to all intents and purposes, already operating as a top professional, and made his England Under 15 debut in February.
