Manchester United's academy talent Hannibal Mejbri almost made his first-team appearance again last week, and in the FA Cup match against Middlesbrough, if it were not for the team's lack of strength, the unexpected goal in the second half would probably not be the veteran Mata, but the 19-year-old Hannibal.
Then the Premier League visit burnley, Hannibal was not selected for the game list, but the home battle against Southampton, due to the injury of veteran Nemanja Matic, Hannibal, wearing the number 46 shirt, was included in the league roster for the first time by interim manager Ralph Lonnick, although he failed to play, but it was also a milestone achievement. And he has been training with the first team, has been officially listed by Lonnick as a first team player, and is no longer a member of the under-23 youth team.
Lonnick is a coach who appreciates young players so much that he has even made it clear that United's FA Youth Cup himself will be watching, with two of United's highly anticipated academy goalscorers Charlie McNeil and Alejandro Garnaccio scoring goals in last week's match, with the Red Devils beating Everton 4-1 to advance.
"It's a great opportunity," Lonnick said, "and before Christmas, I was planning to go to a youth team game, but because of the coronavirus, I couldn't do it." It's an opportunity to play at a well-known stadium like Old Trafford and they should take the chance. There is also a Youth Cup in Germany, and the final is played before the Final of the German Cup in Berlin, but the stadium is not as big as the Dream Theatre, just the home of the amateur team."
Hannibal, who has already made the most appearances for the adult national team in the Manchester United youth system, has chosen to give up joining the French team, playing for tunisian team where his father used to play, and has participated in the Arab Cup at the end of last year and the European Cup at the beginning of this year, the former even reaching the final, but also accumulating more experience in international competitions, which will help him further develop at Manchester United.
Lonnick has made it clear that Hannibal's performance in the Arabian Cup has conquered him and now he will face an even bigger challenge in the First Team at Manchester United. First of all, the genius, who cost United 10 million euros to bring in from Monaco, had to determine his best position.
In the Manchester United youth team, Hannibal is an all-around midfielder, wearing the number 10 shirt and playing forward, midfielder, winger and pseudo-9. But The Tunisian FOOTBALL Federation sporting director Mohammed Slim Ben Osman suggested that he should focus on playing in midfield and considered him to be the "Modric" of Manchester United and Tunisia.
The duo of Modric with Tony Kroos and Casemiro at Real Madrid is known as the "ceremonial midfielder" because of the numerous awards and often participates in various award ceremonies. Hannibal naturally has a huge gap with the Magic Flute, but the Tunisian national team believes he has the ability to become a top midfielder.
"He can play a lot of positions, the core, the tower, the back and even the winger... But in my opinion, his best position is in the middle of the midfield." Ben Osman told The Athletic, "He likes to organise attacks, connect with his teammates, he's technically good, he's physically good and he's very selfless. I think he's a midfielder like Modric with a lot of potential. At Manchester United, he's like Pogba and I want him to play that position well."
Hannibal used to be called the new Pogba by the French youth, but the lads had a much better attitude than the current Manchester United No. 6, and they fought very hard in the game and were often brought down by their opponents. In United's under-23 Championship match against Lincoln City, Hannibal played classic statistics, not only completed assists, but also 116 touches, 16 confrontations with opponents, 7 successful passes, passing success rate of 87%, while the defensive end also had 5 tackles, 3 steals, and 4 fouls to win free kicks.
This summer, Pogba's contract expires and he is likely to leave Manchester United, veterans Mata and Lingard are sure to leave the team, the currently on loan Van de Beek also intends to transfer, serbian veteran Nemanja Matic is one year old, next season he will be 34 years old. The Red Devils will definitely bring in reinforcements, but it is unlikely to get multiple midfielders in a single transfer window, which means that youth players such as Hannibal and James Garner will certainly be given more opportunities to prove themselves and become the team's rotational substitutes.
For Hannibal, there is also good news. He joined Manchester United from Monaco on 11 August 2019 and according to FA rules, a young player who has been registered with the club for 3 years before the age of 18 will have the legendary "Hukou Book" and become the team's youth training. This new identity will help Hannibal to be more valued by the club.