Hannibal joins training as United prepare for Roma clash

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Hannibal Mejbri was called up to first team training today as Manchester United prepared for this week’s clash with Roma.

Hannibal is actually ineligible for the fixture, as he does not qualify for the Europa League B-squad registration list.

This is because he has been at the club under two years and does not fit the Europa League homegrown registration criteria.

He joined Shola Shoretire and Anthony Elanga, who were involved in the session along with Amad. They are all eligible for the Europa League. Amad can play as he was registered with the main squad.

So why was Hannibal in training?

The reason is quite simple; he has done enough to convince Ole Gunnar Solskjaer that he deserves to be considered part of the first team squad.

Solskjaer spoke about this in February, quoted by The MEN, also speaking about Shoretire: “Hannibal will join us and we’ll keep them with us for a while. It’s the next step in their development.”

After a spell out injured, Hannibal trained with the first team at the end of March.

There is no reason why simply because of UEFA red-tape denying him a place in the Europa squads, he should miss out on the chance to train with the first team.

It also helps that the under-23s do not have a game until Monday, against Derby.

Hannibal has three goals and seven assists for the under-23s this season and turned 18 earlier this year.

There is a chance United are preparing him for his Premier League debut at the end of the season.

United could wrap up Champions League qualification early and could have a chance to rotate at the end of the season and give young players like Hannibal and Amad a first team opportunity.

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