Manager hails ‘very gifted’ Manchester United loanee who may soon cost £30m

Add as preferred source on Google

Sevilla coach Quique Sanchez Flores is delighted with the signing of the ‘technically very gifted’ Hannibal Mejbri on loan from Premier League giants Manchester United.

They say first impressions count, and Hannibal Mejbri certainly wasted no time showing the Sevilla supporters what he is all about.

The January signing from Manchester United picked up a booking just seconds into his La Liga debut over the weekend, cautioned after a typically full-blooded – albeit admittedly ill-timed – challenge.

There is, however, more to Hannibal’s game than rattling ankles and crunching shin bones, as Sevilla’s head coach Quique Sanchez Flores is keen to point out. Fittingly, considering we are talking about a man named after everyone’s favourite cannibal, the Tunisia international brings plenty of bite to Sanchez Flores’ midfield.

But that should not distract from his undoubted talents on the ball too.

Sevilla land Manchester United starlet

“Hannibal Mejbri is technically very gifted, very associative,” says the former Watford and Atletico Madrid coach. “We are beginning to understand both him and the rest of the signings.”

Hannibal, who celebrated his 21^st birthday on Sunday, has a £14 million purchase clause in his Sevilla contract. The expectation is, however, that he will be back at Old Trafford in the summer, regardless of whether Sevilla succeed in staving off the very real threat of La Liga relegation (Fabrizio Romano on The United Stand).

In what could be a sign of the long-term perspective INEOS have brought to the table, however, Man United were keen to include a £30 million buyback clause in their arrangement with the Andalusian giants, a potential masterstroke if Sevilla do opt to sign Hannibal permanently before giving him the platform to shine on the Spanish stage.

Hannibal Mejbri given La Liga chance

“I have known him for a long time,” Victor Orta, the club’s director of football and the one-time Leeds chief, tells the Sevilla website.

“We saw him when he played for Manchester United’s under-18s during my time in England. He has been growing, he knows how to handle things maturely.”

“At 16 years old, (Manchester United) paid 10 million euros for him, which is a record,” Orta adds. “And we have a purchase option. Something that always assures you that, if the player (impresses), you can make an effort to buy him.”