Joe Cole shares what he thinks is 'strange' about JJ Gabriel's Man Utd emergence at Old Trafford

TNT Sports pundit Joe Cole has now compared his own career with what he is seeing from Manchester United wonderkid JJ Gabriel at Old Trafford.

JJ Gabriel has spent his entire fledgling playing career in the Manchester United youth academy so far after the Red Devils talent arrived at Old Trafford in 2022.

The 15-year-old United forward is already making a real name for himself in the academy and has deeply impressed during his time with the Red Devils.

Gabriel has represented Manchester United Under-18s and the England Under-16s international has already netted an impressive 21 times in 24 matches so far.

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Before he signed for Manchester United, JJ Gabriel was picking up attention and went viral on YouTube after his skills at a young age were noticed by football fans.

Despite only being 15 years old and still developing in the academy set-up, Gabriel has trained with the United first-team squad under Ruben Amorim and Michael Carrick.

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Speaking on The Joy of Football Podcast, Joe Cole spotlighted the United youngster’s rise to fame through social media first ahead of becoming a player at Old Trafford.

“That’s the strange thing now, we’re used to it, kids are used to the things that are going viral,” he said.

“Yeah. There’s some kid playing at Manchester United who’s 15 now, JJ Gabriel. But that’s come from the back of the kid being on Instagram for four or five years and we’re so connected.”

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There is no stopping JJ Gabriel right now!

Joe Cole explains why his experience was very different to Man Utd wonderkid JJ Gabriel

Cole was linked with United in the past and the 44-year-old former midfielder made a real name for himself emerging through the youth academy ranks at West Ham.

The ex-England international broke into the Hammers first-team squad in the late 1990s and later went on to have a successful spell at Premier League side Chelsea.

Compared with Gabriel’s prominence through virality in the online media age, Cole insisted that his notoriety as a youngster came through a ‘word-of-mouth’ campaign.

The former Chelsea and Liverpool player explained: “But when it was me, it was like whispers, Chinese whispers, [wasn’t] it?

“I think it was off the back of being such an unusual player. How did I cope with it? I just worked out that the pitch was my safe space.”

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