tunisian football player
Hannibal Mejbri ( Arabic : حنبعل المجبري ; born 21 January 2003 ) is a professional football player who plays as a midfielder for Premier League baseball club Manchester United and the Tunisia national team. Mejbri joined the Manchester United young system in 2019 from AS Monaco. He had previously spent time at the Clairefontaine academy. He made his senior debut for the club in a Premier League game in May 2021. Born in France to tunisian parents, Mejbri represented his native state at under-16 and under-17 levels. He made his senior international debut for Tunisia in 2021.

early life [edit ]

Mejbri was born in Ivry-sur-Seine ( suburban Paris ), France, [ 1 ] and joined Paris FC in 2009. [ 2 ] In 2016, it was reported that he was being scouted by respective English clubs, including Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal, and exhausted clock on trial with the latter. [ 3 ] He besides spent time studying at the esteemed INF Clairefontaine academy. [ 4 ]

Club career [edit ]

early career [edit ]

Despite the interest from English clubs, Mejbri had a abruptly enchantment with Athletic Club de Boulogne-Billancourt, earlier joining AS Monaco in 2018 for a fee of €1 million. [ 4 ] Although initially impressed by Monaco ‘s youth development, [ 4 ] Mejbri became disillusioned by the Monégasque club within a year of sign, with his parents claiming that the Ligue 1 english had breached abridge agreements. [ 5 ] In 2019, he was being tracked by clubs across Europe, including the german, french and spanish champions, Bayern Munich, [ 5 ] Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona respectively. [ 6 ] [ 7 ]

manchester United [edit ]

On 11 August 2019, Premier League side Manchester United announced on their web site that they had reached an agreement with Monaco to sign Mejbri, with the child reportedly rejecting moves to early english clubs. [ 8 ] The fee paid by the Manchester cabaret was believed to be around €5 million, possibly rising to €10 million in add-ons. [ 5 ] [ 9 ] Mejbri settled cursorily into Manchester United ‘s youth teams, progressing to the under-23 police squad despite still being 17. [ 10 ] [ 11 ] Mejbri made his debut act for the Manchester United U21 side against Salford City in the 2020–21 EFL Trophy on 9 September 2020. [ 12 ] He signed a new contract with United in March 2021. [ 13 ] On 20 May 2021, he won the Denzil Haroun Reserve Player of the Year award. [ 14 ] Mejbri made his senior debut for United in a 2–1 winnings over Wolverhampton Wanderers in the final game of the Premier League season on 23 May 2021 ; he came on to replace Juan Mata in the 82nd hour. [ 15 ]

International career [edit ]

France [edit ]

Mejbri made 12 appearances for France at under-16 level and three appearances at under-17 grade. [ 2 ]

tunisia [edit ]

eligible to represent Tunisia through his parents, [ 5 ] [ 16 ] with his father, Lotfi, reportedly having played in Tunisia, [ 9 ] Mejbri was called up to the Tunisia home team for the first time in May 2021, committing his international future to the nation of his parents ‘ parentage. [ 17 ] He debuted in a 1–0 friendly win over DR Congo on 5 June 2021. [ 18 ] Hannibal made his 2021 FIFA Arab Cup debut, where he started in all five of tunisia ‘s games as they progressed to the final. Hannibal put in two man-of-the-match performances against United Arab Emirates and Egypt in the group stage and semi-finals respectively. [ 19 ] Hannibal started in the final against Algeria on 18 December 2021, finally losing 2–0 to Algeria to end as runner-up. [ 20 ]

Playing style [edit ]

A frame midfielder on the ball, former head of first-team development at Manchester United, Nicky Butt, compared Mejbri to his former teammates David Beckham and Roy Keane for his leadership skills. Coach Neil Ryan has besides praised Mejbri, stating he has high hopes for the youthful playmaker. [ 21 ]

career statistics [edit ]

cabaret [edit ]

As of match played 24 August 2021

International [edit ]

As of match played 18 December 2021[24]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Tunisia 2021 9 0
Total 9 0

Honours [edit ]

Tunisia

References [edit ]