Gabriel, 15, among crop aiming to preserve 87-year Man Utd record

It took 23 minutes on the Old Trafford stage for JJ Gabriel to confirm his status as one of the most talked about young players in the English game.

At 15 years and two months, Gabriel is not even in his GCSE year at school. He is playing in the FA Youth Cup at a younger age than legendary Manchester United figures such as Duncan Edwards and Eddie Colman from the Busby Babes.

There are plenty of people aware of Gabriel, an England Under-16 international who has been a virtual ever-present for United's Under-18 side this season, even though he was only 14 when the campaign began in August.

Barcelona know all about him. Links with the Catalan giants persist even though United's technical director Jason Wilcox took a personal involvement in persuading Gabriel to commit his short-term future to United earlier this year.

Gabriel has been invited into the directors' box on first-team matchdays on at least three occasions this season and met Sir Alex Ferguson at last week's Premier League draw with West Ham.

Such access is not commonplace, which underlines how much promise United see in the youngster.

Under-18 coach - and former United and Scotland midfielder Darren Fletcher -knows he has a lot of talent. But he is also mindful of how young Gabriel is and the physical disparity to players in some cases over three years older.

It is why, after taking the Under-18s role this summer as his first step into the coaching sphere, Fletcher quickly decided to move the forward inside from his left attacking berth to a central position, initially as a false nine and, in the FA Youth Cup third-round tie with Peterborough, in the number 10 role.

His speed, balance, quick feet and accuracy are already there. After one sighter, following a deft feint to the left and shot, deflected away for a corner, Gabriel found the target with his next opportunity, a low right-footed effort from the edge of the area that found the bottom corner. It turned out to be the only goal.

First team boss Ruben Amorim wasn't there to see it, even though he has worked with some of the other young players on view.

Skipper Jim Thwaites and defenders Dan Armer and Godwill Kukonki all went on last spring's two-match tour of Asia. Kukonki and Bendito Mantato went to Sweden in July for the pre-season game against Leeds. Mantato, part of England's squad at the recent Under-17 World Cup, also went to the United States for the two-week trip that followed.

They are some of the jewels in the United academy Amorim has been accused of not caring about amid his reluctance to give Kobbie Mainoo a starting berth and decision not to introduce Shea Lacey off the bench in four games now.

Mainoo's short-term future has brought United's 87-year-old record of always having a home-grown player in their matchday squad into sharp focus as there have been times when he has been the only academy graduate involved.

Amorim has said he will not be responsible for the record coming to an end and when Mainoo was absent at Tottenham last month, Fletcher's son Jack was put on the bench.

But no-one, including senior figures within the club, want tokenism, and players just being picked to tick a box.

That is why United's Under-18s really matter.

The gulf from there to the first team is huge. Under-21 football is not an insignificant step up in the middle, which many of the youngsters on show at Old Trafford on Tuesday night – but not Gabriel just yet – have made this season.

It is felt internally there have been better Under-18 groups, but also that they have only had one bad half this season, against Manchester City, when Fletcher's side conceded four goals in the second period after opening up a 2-0 lead at the break.

Fletcher's demand to dominate possession and form a strong defence has led to only conceding in three games this season.

United have won this prestigious competition a record 11 times. Their last success, in 2022, was with a team that contained Mainoo and Alejandro Garnacho.

Their chances of emulating that success might depend on the fitness of key men and the extended absence of another forward, Amir Ibragimov, with a broken foot, is not good news.

They will play either Cambridge or Derby in the next round.