Chelsea banned from signing JJ Gabriel until December

Chelsea won't be able to sign Manchester United wonderkid JJ Gabriel until mid-December due to an academy ban for financial rule breaches.

The west London giants were punished for breaching financial rules back in March. They were handed a £10m fine and banned from signing academy players for the next nine months.

As a result, they are banned from adding academy players to their ranks until December 17. Hence, they won't be able to recruit Gabriel if he were to be deregistered by United, as he wants.

United planned to hand Gabriel his debut in the Carabao Cup third-round tie against Brighton & Hove Albion, but that will no longer happen as he has a clear desire to move on from the club.

The 15-year-old does not see his senior career with the Red Devils and wants to join a club where he has a better chance of becoming a first-team player at the earliest opportunity, given his potential.

Chelsea are among the clubs keen on landing his signature, but it would require him to wait until mid-December. They could miss out on Gabriel, with Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich also interested.