Manchester United legend Ryan Giggs has issued a warning to rising 16-year-old talent JJ Gabriel, who is preparing to leave the English club and join Real Madrid.
Giggs made 963 appearances for Manchester United and won 34 major trophies at the club. He spoke about the player's future during an appearance on the YouTube channel of his former teammate Rio Ferdinand, saying: "So far everything is going well in his career (Gabriel), so why spoil it? You're on the right track."
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The Welshman added: "I trained at the age of 15, and I didn't play with the first team until two years later, so you have to have the patience that people don't seem to have at the moment. And believe it or not, first-team football at Manchester United is completely different from playing with the youth sides, or even in pre-season matches."
He continued: "You might do well in your first match, but you have to do it over the course of 40 or 50 matches in a season. You'll face injuries, a loss of form, and poor results, so you have to be patient. If you're on the right track, bide your time no matter how good you are."
Arsenal's young talent Max Dowman was held up by Giggs as the model to follow. "Max Dowman is incredible, but he's not currently playing for Arsenal," he said. "I'm sure he's biding his time, and I'm sure he feels impatient, but he isn't rebelling. He knows that in two years he might become a regular at Arsenal."
Gabriel is now close to officially announcing his move to Real Madrid for around 15 million euros, according to press reports.