The career of Hannibal Mejbri (21 years old) is struggling to take off. After leaving AS Monaco in 2019 to move to Manchester United, the Tunisian crack spent two seasons with the Red Devils before being loaned to the Championship, to Birmingham during the 2022/2023 season. A year with the Blues during which he scored 1 goal and provided 6 assists in 41 matches. Back at Old Trafford, the attacking midfielder under contract until 2025 was put on the market. In vain.
Publicly taken back by his coach
It was only six months later that Sevilla FC was able to obtain his loan on January 15, after having discussed at length with the player to convince him to join Andalusia. An interesting option for Mancunian managers who thought they would see their talent join an experienced club in Europe with the possibility of having significant playing time. In vain. Two weeks later, after only one part of the match played (30 minutes against Girona), Mejbri was publicly criticized by his coach Quique Sánchez Flores.
“We are going to give him the space he needs to understand where he is, that he is in Sevilla and what that means. He must know where he is and we want to see him. We spoke to him and we think he needs a little time to learn. (…) He is the kind of player who suddenly lands at a big club like Sevilla, with maximum expectations. He should take a step forward to understand what we want. » A beneficial kick in the butt? Not really. The next two matches, Sánchez Flores only gave him ten minutes to play. It was only on March 2, against Real Sociedad, that the Tunisian was able to enjoy his first start for 52 minutes.
Manchester United are getting impatient
A situation that calls attention to. Sevilla worked hard to recruit him, but his coach only left him with crumbs. Is the player paying for his arrival at a club in the midst of a sporting crisis (16th in the Liga rankings)? On February 15, his coach mainly pointed out a lack of involvement. “I tried to explain to him the situation we are in, which is similar to that of the club he comes from, where sacrifice is more important than talent. We won't get anywhere with talent alone. We need organization, desire, desire to play. He has the conditions, but he must understand all of this”.
At the beginning of March, a clearing seemed to be taking shape. “The boy reaches another level of understanding and he is able to play at any time. There was a difficult landing, but it was more mental than in terms of the game. Going from Manchester United to Sevilla… Here we are in a very difficult situation. In Manchester you are in the top five and here you are in the bottom five. He joined a very difficult team. This changes a lot of things”, declared Sánchez Flores who made his debut straight away against Real Sociedad. But since then, Hannibal Mejbri has not reappeared in the last two matches of the Nervion club. And according to A.S.this situation would greatly annoy MU who would not at all appreciate the very little playing time of their 21-year-old player.
