United boss Michael Carrick says he and his team must be “really careful of the whole situation” surrounding Gabriel who asked to leave the side this week in what came as shocking news to the club.
Real Madrid, Barcelona and Paris St-Germain are among the European heavyweight clubs monitoring the situation just one month before he turns 16 years old.
Joe O'Cearuill is the father of JJ Gabriel, whose birth name is Joseph Junior Andreou O'Cearuill. His father reportedly changed his son’s name to make him more marketable in the modern football world.
Carragher, speaking on the latest Stick to Football podcast, has implied that parents such as O'Cearuill could hurt player’s chances of reaching their full potential.
“In my experience when I was a kid... and watching James (Carragher, his son) come through, in the main when there are situations like this the players never really fulfil their potential.
“When you've got an entourage, maybe it's the parents... we all know growing up, even at our age, some parents were a nightmare with their kids and were onto coaches about not getting enough minutes.
“You always look back, 20 years later, and I just think "that didn't help your son". And those players... I'd say 70, 80 per cent of situations where the entourage or the parents are a nightmare to deal with, they never end up doing what they should do because of situations like this.”
Gabriel would have become the club's youngest-ever player if he'd played on Wednesday night against Brighton in the EFL Cup, a plan that Carrick had in mind before Gabriel's comments.