Manchester United interim manager Ralph Ronnick confirmed that 19-year-old Hannibal Mejbri has officially entered the first team and will be part of the FA Cup battle against Middlesbrough squad. In the Manchester United squad, Hannibal, with his iconic explosive head, will wear the number 46 shirt.
Hannibal, from France, chose to join his father's citizenship of Tunisia and participated in the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations, though the team is out. After the game, Hannibal gave up a week of vacation to return to Manchester United early, where he was also appreciated by Ronnick and included in the first team list.
United rented out attackers such as Van de Beek, Martial and Amade Diallo in the winter transfer window in January, leaving Hannibal with a place. "We have put Hannibal on the list," Lonnick told Manchester United's official tv station MUTV, "from now on he will be regularly training with the first team and will be a regular member of the squad and he will also be part of tomorrow's FA Cup squad."
Asked how Hannibal is doing in training, Lonnick said: "Honestly, I haven't seen enough because he spends more time in the national team. I watched his game, but not the Africa Cup, but the Previous Arab Cup. I've seen him play in the final and so far I think he's a promising rising star. So for the rest of the season he qualifies to be part of the squad and tomorrow he'll be in the squad."
When Ronnick took office, Hannibal was selected for Tunisia and helped the team reach the final of the Arab Cup, but unfortunately lost to Algeria, while at the Africa Cup of Nations he played in the quarter-finals, losing to Burkina Faso. In the FA Cup, Jesse Lingard and Cavani were on leave to hang out, Mason Greenwood was suspended internally, and Hannibal had a good chance of coming off the bench.
United spent 10 million euros to bring in Hannibal from Monaco, he is regarded as the new prince in this year's Manchester United youth training, and together with Shola Shoretire, there are high hopes, but whether he can really become a talent depends on his performance in the next game.
In the future, Manchester United's players on loan may return to the team, when Hannibal faces stronger competition, so now is the best time for him to prove himself. Lonnick said: "Our squad was a bit too big before, so many players couldn't play. Downey (van der Beek), Anthony (Martial) and Amad (Diallo) are capable of playing the main players and I wish them all the best. Ahmed started for the Glasgow Rangers in his first game and scored goals. I'm sure Anthony and Downey will also have a great time at Sevilla and Everton and come back to the club this summer in better shape."
Manchester United academy striker Mason Greenwood has been embroiled in scandals over the past week and faced official wrongdoing, and Hannibal also needs to learn his lessons and keep a low profile off the pitch. Lonnick said: "We went through a normal week of training, had 5 training sessions, and honestly, I didn't talk too much about it with the players, but mason (Greenwood) issues are of course the subject of the team. Players are human beings, and Mason was one of them before. But we are still training in normal conditions and looking forward to tomorrow's game. Everyone wants this not to happen, but it's a fact. It's a matter of life, it's not just professional football, you have to stay together and keep going."