JJ Gabriel and the £350,000 problem United made

United are about to lose their most talked-about academy player in years for roughly the price of a decent Championship loan.

JJ Gabriel, who turned 16 this month, asked for his registration to be cancelled last month. The Guardian says he's almost certain to leave, and if he goes to a club abroad, Fifa's compensation figures would hand United around £350,000.

How it fell apart

The short version is minutes. The Manchester Evening News reports his camp believe promises of senior involvement were broken. He played eight minutes of first-team football in pre-season and wasn't in the Champions League squad.

Our view: there are two sides to this. United can't hand a 15-year-old guaranteed minutes because his camp asks. But eight minutes in a whole pre-season is hardly a pathway, either.

The contract confusion

Here's where the reporting splits. The Guardian reported on 8 October that United had lodged an official scholarship offer, which would force any Premier League club to negotiate a fee or go to a tribunal, where United would expect more than £3m.

The next day the BBC said both sides accept there's been no new deal, and that the last offer was made a long time ago. We can't tell you which is right. What both agree on is the outcome: he's heading for a club in the EU.

Where he's going

Real Madrid are favourites, according to the Guardian, with Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain watching. Gabriel now has an EU passport through his parents, which is what makes a move before 18 possible. The Guardian says United will consider legal action if they think recruitment rules were broken.

For now, the BBC says he's training with a personal trainer in Spain.

What Carrick has said

Very little, deliberately. "The situation will work itself out, whatever way it's going to work itself out," he said, as quoted by the MEN. "Making sure he's okay is the important thing."

That's the right tone for a 16-year-old.

Life after JJ

The academy hasn't stopped. In the week Gabriel asked to leave, Shea Lacey started at Old Trafford in the Carabao Cup against Brighton and scored his first senior goal in the eighth minute, as the MEN reported. Carrick said that was "his little spot", cutting inside on his left foot, and that "we'll see who brings it on to having the next opportunity".

Someone always takes the chance.

Our verdict

United were right not to hand a teenager guaranteed minutes. They were wrong to let it get to the point where a 16-year-old feels he has to walk away, and where the club ends up with pocket change for him.

Real Madrid will look very clever if he becomes the player everyone at Carrington thinks he can be. United will have nobody to blame but themselves.