Young stars do not reach their potential if they have a nightmare parent behind the scenes, Jamie Carragher has warned.The pushy parents issue has been in the spotlight after Man United’s prodigiously talented 15-year-old, JJ Gabriel, stunned the club by informing them that he wants out – a play largely orchestrated by his father Joe O’Cearuill.Daily Mail Sport on Wednesday lifted the lid on O’Cearuill’s behaviour being a nightmare for the club.Clubs having to manage the parents of their top starlets, who have become increasingly valuable from an even younger age, is an issue Carragher is well aware of. The former Liverpool centre-back’s son, James, is a professional with Wigan in League One. Speaking on the latest Stick to Football podcast, Carragher said: ‘In my experience when I was a kid… and watching James [Carragher] come through, in the main when there are situations like this the players never really fulfil their potential. JJ Gabriel wants out of Man United and Jamie Carragher has warned about the careers of starlets with pushy parents going awry ‘When you’ve got an entourage, maybe it’s the parents… we all know growing up, even at our age, some parents were a nightmare with their kids and were onto coaches about not getting enough minutes. ‘You always look back, 20 years later, and I just think “that didn’t help your son”. And those players… I’d say 70, 80 per cent of situations where the entourage or the parents are a nightmare to deal with, they never end up doing what they should do because of situations like this.’Michael Carrick was asked about the Gabriel furore in the wake of Man United’s 3-2 defeat by Brighton in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night. He said: ‘We have to be a little bit careful on that one. He’s a 15-year-old boy. It’s more about the welfare, the care and the attention of JJ as a child really.’ It was another unwanted distraction and has clearly caused a stir within the club, with 19-year-old Shea Lacey scoring against the Seagulls having posted a photo of himself walking into Old Trafford along with a heart emoji before the game. That was interpreted as a pointed message to Gabriel, who has been dubbed ‘kid Messi’, with the teen wanting to depart before signing his first professional contract away from the club that nurtured him. Gabriel’s social media conduct has not endeared him to supporters after he wiped all reference to the club from his Instagram account.It should be stressed that Gabriel is not fully accountable for his decision and image – his father and team behind him are hugely influential. Carragher said some parents can be a ‘nightmare’ behind the scenes at clubs Daily Mail Sport’s Oliver Holt has pinned the blame for his would-be exit on the club, asking why English football’s hottest youth property would entrust his future to an institution in decline with controversial owners. Less than a week ago, Gabriel scored a hat-trick on his UEFA League debut against FK Sabah, becoming the youngest player in United history to do so.Last summer, when Gabriel flirted with an exit, director of football Jason Wilcox intervened. Along with head of negotiations Matt Hargreaves, he convinced Gabriel of his route to becoming the youngest-ever first-team player. This season, Gabriel has been playing six years up and is thriving with the under-21s.United sources believe there is still the possibility that the situation can be rectified given that despite the player’s request, he cannot be de-registered from the squad and his current contract runs until the end of the season. Sources close to the player were quick to play down talk of discontent but it has now transpired that an explosive episode has been brewing behind the scenes, with Barcelona having spent years pursuing him, given he can leave the UK at 16 due to holding an Irish passport, allowing him to play in Europe. Joe O’Cearuill, the father of Gabriel, is a former Ireland international footballer and is seen as an ambitious and unpredictable character Only days ago after scoring the European hat-trick Gabriel’s boss at youth level Adam Lawrence, who leads the Under-19s and the Under-21s, spoke about coaching a player like Gabriel.‘I think the first thing in my job is not to ruin him,’ Lawrence said.‘So when you have a talented player like JJ and the other lads of course, you obviously don’t want to stifle their freedom and their creativity. And I think 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.‘Of course, it can’t always be free and off the cuff in terms of some of the off-the-ball responsibilities that he’s working on and some of the pressing things that he’s thinking about. But again, in terms of how he plays properly and how he connects with other team-mates at the top end of the pitch, he’s just in a real good space.‘With JJ, he’s surrounded by people that really believe in him,’ Lawrence added.But those steering Gabriel’s career from the background may be well advised to listen to Carragher’s warning before taking the crucial next step.