Erik ten Hag’s legacy at Manchester United will be a peculiar one, but one thing was for certain – he loved giving youth a chance.
Ten Hag allowed the likes of Kobbie Mainoo and Alejandro Garnacho to blossom as players at Manchester United. The Dutchman knew they were ready, and his trust was rewarded by some sensational performances, alongside multiple trophies for the Red Devils.
But, alas, with a huge academy like Manchester United’s, you’re bound to have some young talent that doesn’t quite make it around Old Trafford.
One of these players includes former United academy graduate, Hannibal Mejbri – who didn’t live up to high expectations at Carrington.
Subsequently, Hannibal was sold to Burnley by Ten Hag for around £5.4m in the summer of 2024. Since then, he’s become a solid first-team squad player for the Clarets.
Impressive. The Championship is a league with players of extremely high quality – but the Tunisian midfielder is convinced he’s among the cream of the crop.
Hannibal Mejbri says he’s better than Chris Rigg
Mejbri recently took part in a YouTube challenge with the League of 72, where he was tasked to not speak until he heard a current Championship player who is better than himself.
This list included Manchester United summer target Chris Rigg, who Hannibal didn’t even flinch at when his name popped up.
Rigg has been identified as a £25m potential signing by Ruben Amorim, as per Caught Offside, with the Sunderland ace dazzling in midfield for the Black Cats this season.
Despite Rigg’s fine form, Hannibal was still confident he edges that argument, as he did with every other player in the list.
Hannibal has always been a man with an attitude, and sky-high confidence, so it’s important to take what he says with a pinch of salt. That’s just him – as epitomised in his interview below.
Hannibal also confident he’s better than Daniel James
So who else did Hannibal say he was better than besides, Rigg? Well, Mejbri also claimed he was better than one of his Manchester United teammates, Daniel James. The challenge went as follows:
Don’t speak until you hear a better player than Hannibal Mejbri…
- Jobe Bellingham?
- Daniel James?
- Elijah Adebayo?
- William Gnonto?
- Chris Rigg?
- Josh Maja?
- Callum O’Hare?
- Borja Sainz?
- Moussa Sissoko?
- Gustavo Hamer?
“It’s finished?” Hannibal asks. “The pronunciation must be wrong, because I did not hear a player that is better than me.”
One thing is for certain since leaving Manchester United, Mejbri hasn’t lost his confidence.
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