Man Utd prospect was tipped to be next Modric and Pogba, he simply lost his way

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Manchester United are no longer able to scour Europe for promising teenage prospects under 18, as was the case prior to Brexit.

This previous policy allowed the club to swoop for 16-year-old wonderkid Alejandro Garnacho, who has since gone onto become a first team regular, FA Cup winner, and Argentina international.

Another player the club signed 12 months earlier arrived with even higher hopes, Hannibal Mejbri was seen as the jewel of United’s foreign recruitment policy.

Hannibal has now completed his move to Burnley, five years later, for a fee rising from £5.4 million to £9.4 million, with a 50 per cent sell-on clause.

• READ MORE: Manchester United confirmed signings, transfers in, out, loan exits, releases for 2024/25

Hannibal Mejbri was compared to Modric

When Hannibal Mejbri signed for Manchester United he was highly rated and regarded as a strong future prospect. His early performances at academy level showed why.

Hannibal demonstrated his strong array of passing and willingness to take on players, winning awards at United for his promising performances.

He was also called up to the Tunisia national team and already at the age of 21 he has an impressive 27 caps.

Tunisian Football Federation sporting director Mohamed Slim Ben Othman spoke out to praise Hannibal’s versatility, but also his ability on the ball, and potential to influence games from deep.

Othman told The Athletic: “He can play in a lot of positions: he can be a playmaker, he can be a regista (deep-lying playmaker), he can be a defensive midfielder, he can be a winger… but for me, his best position is central midfield.

“He likes to be the player who can organise and coordinate his team. He has big physical abilities and is very selfless despite his large technical qualities.

“I see him as a central midfielder — similar to Luka Modric. He is someone with a big potential in this position and I think that even Manchester United see this and are trying to improve him as a box-to-box player. I see him like Paul Pogba in this role for his club. I hope that he will be happy in this position.”

Hannibal regressed into a scrapper and lost his finesse

Something happened along the way during Hannibal’s development which saw him swap the finesse and artistry in his game in favour of a more scrappy, dogged approach.

This began during his time in Manchester United’s academy where due to his standout talent, Hannibal became a target for opponents to try and kick out of the game.

He often responded in kind, fighting back. There is a clip of him being booked and subsequently sent off at under-21 level for demanding a yellow card be handed to an opponent, summing up his frustrations. This was one of three red cards he received at youth level.

An entertaining cameo appearance away at Liverpool in a 4-0 defeat where he tried to kick lumps out of the home side quickly won applause from United fans, and Gary Neville, but then manager Ralf Rangnick took a dim view and did not pick him again.

A season on loan in the Championship hardened Hannibal’s approach, and while he was granted chances by Erik ten Hag early last season, the manager was not won over.

The last straw seemed to come in a dismal home Carabao Cup loss to Newcastle in which Hannibal picked up a 14th minute booking and looked like a walking red card until he was substituted in the 65th minute.

During his loan at Sevilla, Hannibal made the wrong kind of early impact, where he was booked after just one minute on his debut. He was only trusted to start one La Liga game at the club.

Hannibal made 16 appearances in total for United and Sevilla in 2023/24, and rarely were the Pogba or Modric comparisons even remotely accurate. This was a young player who had lost his way, and this remained evident with a series of tepid pre-season performances from a prospect who had already made his mind up to leave.

Still only 21, Hannibal can still be a success. United clearly believe so, adding a buy-back and sell-on clause into the sale agreement.

What he needs is regular football. An element of his changed style could be attributed simply to an over-eagerness to impress.

Hannibal will get chances at Burnley, and he needs to re-discover himself. There is still opportunity for him to re-craft himself into the style of player he was tipped to become.