Manchester United's JJ Gabriel Gets Another Chance Against Atletico Madrid
Manchester United’s pre-season steps into sharper focus on Saturday – and a 15-year-old could steal some of the spotlight.
JJ Gabriel has again been named in the first-team squad for the friendly against Atletico Madrid in Stockholm, as Michael Carrick trims his travelling group but keeps one eye firmly on the future. The teenager, who has yet to make a senior appearance, travels with a squad that also welcomes back Altay Bayindir and Amad from World Cup duty.
Carrick has gone lighter this time. The party heading to Sweden is smaller than the groups that flew to Helsinki to face Wrexham and to Trondheim for last Friday’s 5-0 dismantling of Rosenborg. The opposition, though, is a clear step up. Diego Simeone’s Atletico rarely treat any game as a gentle run-out, and Stockholm’s Strawberry Arena will feel closer to a proper European night than a soft pre-season exercise.
Some familiar names are missing. Players who only returned to first-team training this week have been left at Carrington to build fitness, rather than thrown straight into action. Belgian pair Senne Lammens and Youri Tielemans reported on Thursday but, with minutes in their legs still at a premium, this fixture comes too early for them.
The door opens again for Gabriel. He was part of the squad in Trondheim but remained one of only two outfield players not used in the win over Rosenborg, alongside midfielder Jim Thwaites, who has been an unused substitute in both pre-season games so far. Another inclusion here suggests the staff want him close to the senior environment, even if his debut has to wait.
Not everyone keeps their place. Toby Collyer, Dan Gore, Jacob Devaney and Chido Obi all drop out of the travelling party, the natural squeeze that comes when senior options return and the level of opposition rises.
Bayindir’s presence strengthens the goalkeeping department after his post-World Cup break, while Amad’s return adds a different kind of threat higher up the pitch, even if this game is more about rhythm than risk.
United squad to face Atletico Madrid
- Goalkeepers: Altay Bayindir, Tom Heaton, Kie Plumley Mee, Radek Vitek.
- Defenders: Harry Amass, Louis Jackson Armer, Patrick Dorgu, Habeeb Ogunneye Heaven, Jack Kamason, Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw, Leny Yoro.
- Midfielders: Jack Fletcher, Tyler Fletcher, Mason Mount, Bruno Santos, Jim Thwaites.
A tougher opponent, a tighter squad, and a teenager chasing a first taste of senior football: for United, Stockholm looks less like a stroll and more like a genuine pre-season examination.
