A young player can have all the talent in the world, but without the right support network in place, there is plenty of precedent for such extraordinary ability going to waste.

If you had told anyone who watched Ravel Morrison train as a teenager that he would be playing in Dubai during his peak years, they would have laughed you out of the room. Talent needs nurturing.

The parallels between Morrison and JJ Gabriel are difficult to ignore. Both Manchester United academy products possess God-given ability that most mere mortals can only dream of. They have skills that cannot be taught and have scored goals at youth level that have left spectators open-mouthed.

There is, however, one glaring difference between the former bright hope and Europe’s hottest young prospect. While it is widely believed that Morrison might have reached the very top had he possessed a guiding figure off the pitch to rein in his youthful indiscretions, Gabriel appears to have the opposite problem: a guiding figure with too much to say.

Gabriel’s father, Joe O’Cearuill, who changed his son’s name to make him more marketable, was a journeyman footballer himself and therefore knows better than most parents what it takes to reach the top.

Perhaps, though, he is too close to the situation to act as his son’s adviser. Having come close to taking his talented son away from United in the summer, the family sat down with the club’s hierarchy to agree a pathway towards superstardom.

To then go back on that agreement just a few months later, because a 16-year-old was not receiving enough first-team opportunities, suggests that a father who spent much of his playing career moving from one club to another might not be the best person to oversee his son’s career.

Leaving United in their current guise is understandable, particularly with the rest of Europe’s elite circling. But the manner in which the family have engineered the move is where the problems lie. How does having Gabriel train alone in Spain for months on end, at such a crucial stage of his development, benefit anyone?

A verbal agreement is in place for the wonderkid to join Real Madrid. It involves Gabriel, his father, his agent and the Spanish club. United, with whom Gabriel remains registered, only became aware of the proposed move when the news emerged publicly.

The family owe United nothing. But if this is how they approach a transfer when Gabriel is 16, with the compensation fee likely to be worth hundreds of thousands rather than the hundreds of millions he could potentially command in the future, it does not bode well for his prospects in the cut-throat world of elite football.

United, quite rightly, feel they have been treated unfairly throughout the process. Gabriel may not have received the same opportunities as some of his youth-team colleagues, but the answer is dialogue, not going AWOL.

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The club will consider legal action against Madrid or whichever team Gabriel eventually joins. The teenager is able to move in January after obtaining a European passport through his family heritage.

United sources insist the club will not do anything to jeopardise Gabriel’s career by taking action against him personally, saying they “don’t want to punish him for the actions of adults”. But if any rules have been broken, they will seek compensation from his destination club.

All of this could have been avoided with less rash decision-making from someone who should perhaps know better. Burning bridges with one of the biggest clubs in the world is no way to begin a promising football career.