Man Utd news: JJ Gabriel contract offer made as club's silence broken on City charges

· Mirror

Manchester United return to action this weekend as they host Tottenham at Old Trafford on Saturday evening

Michael Carrick will aim to return to winning ways as Manchester United host Tottenham at Old Trafford. The cloud of their neighbours' current chaos looms heavy in the headlines, but the Red Devils boss is solely focused on the job at hand.

Carrick said the news has been "difficult" to swallow but Spurs is the priority. Regarding Roberto De Zerbi's visit to Old Trafford, the United boss admitted their upcoming opponents have played better than their points show and won't allow his team to be complacent.

> He insisted: "When you look at the games, they are a very good team with good players. They have assembled a squad this summer that is different to what they had. They haven't had the results they maybe deserve."

While both managers could do with three points to ease the heat on their positions, Carrick labelled it "just another game" in the calendar. Here, Mirror Football has the latest headlines coming out of Old Trafford.

JJ Gabriel offer made

United have handed JJ Gabriel a formal scholarship offer following his request to leave last month. Despite this deal being leveraged, the club still run the risk of losing him for as little as £350,000 with Barcelona, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich all linked.

The teenager stunned United when he made an exit demand in September, sparking major transfer speculation across Europe. Under Premier League regulations for youth players, Gabriel would've been able to leave in January for nothing if he hadn't been offered an official scholarship.

The Guardian now reports that this offer has been made and this changes the landscape for any future transfer. Should Gabriel turn down United's deal, any Premier League sides interested in him will now need to negotiate club-to-club for his signature.

If a deal cannot be agreed, then compensation will be decided by a Professional Football Compensation Committee tribunal. United would expect to receive at least £3million - plus a 20% sell-on clause - instead.

But if Gabriel chooses to move abroad to a European club, then the compensation fee will drop much further.

Carrick responds to City charges

Carrick spoke of the personal impact regarding City's guilty verdict and urged for the situation to be dealt with as soon as possible as United broke their silence on the situation. During the international break, the Premier League confirmed that an independent commission had found United's rivals guilty of 114 of the 115 charges they faced.

City have strongly maintained they're innocent and have lodged an appeal. The rule breaches took place between 2009/10 and 2017/18 - with Carrick part of the squad that ended up second to their rivals in the Premier League on two occasions.

> When asked about the charges, the United boss said: "Difficult to say in many ways. It's thrown up a lot of questions. It's ongoing, and there's only so much I can say. I have my own questions about it because it has affected me personally. We'll have to see how it goes. The sooner it gets sorted for everyone, the better.

> "There's no getting that (winning moments) back in any direction. The feeling we all crave is coming out on top. That sums it up. Whatever is done in the past, is done in the past.

> "Speed is essential, as I just said. That's obvious for me to sit here and say that. There are so many angles, but speed is essential for everybody to be clear, to deal with it, and move on. It's unprecedented to be in this situation at this level. We all need to know what is going to happen."

> When asked if he would want to receive an extra Premier League medal - having missed out in 2011/12 and 2017/18 - Carrick added: "I think at the moment, as it's still not finalised, I think I'll hold that one until later on. I think regardless of anything, a medal anyway, in any sport in history, I think the later on you get the medal [it doesn't mean as much].

> "It's the moment that you strive for to win and achieve in that moment, so the medal here or there, not getting blasé about it, but that doesn't bring the feeling of when you initially win or you don't win. That's essentially what we're all in it for."

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