Manchester United’s Hannibal Mejbri is a January target for Sevilla but the Premier League youngster is far from their number one pick.
After drifting away from the policy which laid the foundations for that remarkable period of success under Unai Emery and Monchi, sporting director Victor Orta and new president Jose Maria del Nido Carrasco appear determined to take inspiration from the past in order to ensure a brighter future.
Sevilla are once again prioritising up-and-coming, fresh-faced talent rather than battlescarred veterans, the Spanish giants going from European football’s kindergarten to something more akin to a retirement home in recent seasons.
Manchester United academy graduate Hannibal Mejbri is a target, Diario de Sevilla say, but not the club’s number one target.
Manchester United could loan out Hannibal Mejbri
Lucien Agoume is the man sitting pretty a the very top of Orta’s January wishlist. And, fortunately for the one-time Leeds United chief, Agoume appears to be as keen on Sevilla as they are on him.
According to Fabrizio Romano, the Inter Milan prospect will travel to Andalusia before joining on loan with an option to make the deal permanent over the summer.
Hannibal actually comes in third in Sevilla’s January pecking order, behind Agoume and the Chelsea-owned striker David Datro Fofana. So impressive at Molde in Norway, Fofana struggled on loan at Union Berlin during the first half of this season and will hope a move to Spain can kick-start his career.
Hannibal saw the 12-month extension clause in his Man United contract triggered this week. A short-term spell at Sevilla would surely do his development no harm, meanwhile, especially considering that the 20-year-old has struggled for game time even during the injury-enforced absences of Casemiro, Christian Eriksen and Mason Mount.
The Tunisia international has played only 15 minutes of Premier League football since making his first top-flight start away to Burnley in September.
Opportunities limited
“We brought some energy in the team,” Ten Hag told the Manchester Evening News when asked about his decision to call upon the, erm, bite and blood lust of Hannibal.
“The pressing of Rasmus Hojlund and Hannibal, the togetherness, how they start the moments of the pressing,” Ten Hag added. “The timing was very good.”
The timing may also be right for another loan away from Old Trafford, particularly with Mount and Casemiro stepping up their long-awaited returns.
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