Manchester United's miserable start to the season shows little sign of easing.

Sunday's 1-1 draw at Fulham leaves Michael Carrick's side with just five points from five Premier League games, sitting 12th in the table and already ten points behind rivals Manchester City.

It capped a week that also included defeat in the Manchester derby and waving goodbye to one chance at a domestic trophy, and Carrick is beginning to feel the heat as a result.

Defender Harry Maguire has urged for patience, pointing to the fine margins that have defined United's opening weeks.

"You have got to ignore the noise and really believe and think about what we have done this year, along with what we need to work on and improve on, but we are not far away," said the England international, who will remain at Carrington during the break having once again been left out of Thomas Tuchel's squad.

"Last week was an absolutely ridiculous goal that changed the whole complex of the game and the week before the right-back sticks the ball in from 30 yards. We could be sat here looking at things completely different, that's football and it is fine margins.

"We will have a break now and come back, we know we need to improve but we will work hard and take the positives from today."

Amid all of that, the ongoing JJ Gabriel situation bubbling away in the background has certainly not helped ease the sense of discontent among supporters.

Fabrizio Romano provided the latest update over the weekend, moving to clarify exactly what stage discussions over the youngster's future are at after he requested to have his registration at Old Trafford cancelled in order to leave the club with immediate effect.

"The camp of JJ Gabriel are having conversations with clubs," said Romano. "I told you in all my videos this week that Real Madrid, Barcelona and more clubs. Spain is more than likely, but there are other clubs in the race.

"This is the situation, it's not that JJ Gabriel travelled to Barcelona to negotiate directly with Barca, personally with Barca, or to sign with Barca. That's not the case. They are talking, the camp of the player, his family, his representatives, to discuss about the future."

That update has now been followed by a more damaging one for United. Spanish outlet Sport claim there is now no going back, with the Red Devils no longer attempting to change Gabriel's mind.

The youngster and his representatives are said to have agreed that a move to one of Spain's big two would be best for his development, with Real Madrid and Barcelona both firmly in the picture.

Man Utd considering legal action over agent involvement

Football FanCast sources understand United are exploring a far more combative response than simply accepting the situation. The club are considering legal action in order to have a tribunal decide a fee on Gabriel's next move.

United would technically only be entitled to a small compensation payment if he pens scholarship terms elsewhere following his 16th birthday on October 6, but sources understand the club believe proper protocols have not been followed, pointing to interference from super agent Ali Barat.

Barat is understood to have been "instrumental" in arranging discussions between Gabriel's family and both Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, despite the fact a player cannot be officially represented by an agent until turning 16. Barat and his Epic Sports agency are, conveniently, lined up to represent Gabriel once he does reach that age.

There is precedent for such a dispute working in a selling club's favour. When Harvey Elliott left Fulham for Liverpool as a 16-year-old in 2019, the Professional Football Compensation Committee ultimately awarded Fulham a guaranteed £1.5m, plus a further £2.8m in contingent payments and a 20% sell-on clause - far beyond what a standard fixed fee would have delivered, and a reminder that tribunals are capable of moving well past minimal compensation when they consider it justified.

Separately, Liverpool were banned from registering academy players for a year and fined £100,000 in 2017 after admitting to making improper approaches, including private school fee offers, to a young Stoke City prospect - evidence that the game's governing bodies have previously come down hard on clubs found to have circumvented the rules around underage recruitment.

The issue United may encounter is that Gabriel's likely destination lies outside English football's PFCC jurisdiction entirely, so it may be up to FIFA to prove improper conduct and turn a nominal compensation fee into something considerably more substantial.