Gabriel, who trains regularly alongside United's senior squad, was given the chance to feature with the first team during pre-season, and the club are understood to view his development as a genuine priority despite his young age. According to journalist Fabrizio Romano, staff throughout Old Trafford have been left stunned by the teenager's ability.
"It's going to be important to see how Manchester United manage JJ in terms of involving him in the first team in official games," Romano said on his YouTube channel.
"That's going to be an important topic because everyone at Manchester United, when they speak about JJ Gabriel, is in total shock at how good this boy is.
"So obviously, his pathway is going to be absolutely important in order to understand more about JJ."
The forward has continued his impressive start to the season at academy level, scoring a hat-trick in a 5-0 UEFA Youth League win, becoming the youngest United player in the club's history to achieve the feat in that competition. He has already been promoted to the club's under-21 squad this season and remains on the fringes of first-team involvement, with supporters increasingly eager to see him make a competitive senior debut.
Manager Michael Carrick, who has regularly attended Gabriel's youth matches to monitor his progress, praised his development after watching him play last month.
"I really enjoyed the game. You could see the quality," Carrick said. "JJ is one of the boys. He's obviously got a really big talent. He's trained with us quite a bit and is getting experience all the time. He's physically adapting to each step that he makes, and we're just continuing his development."
Under-21 boss Adam Lawrence, who has worked closely with Gabriel this season, echoed the message that the priority remains protecting his natural instincts rather than rushing his progress.
"The first thing in my job is not to ruin him," Lawrence said. "You obviously don't want to stifle their freedom and their creativity, and essentially what you try and do is to set the team up to allow the talent to function and to play free at the right moments."