Hannibal Mejbri could be given first-team Man Utd role next season with 17-year-old set to make step-up from academy
HANNIBAL MEJBRI could be promoted into the Manchester United first-team set up under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer next season, according to reports.
The talented midfielder may still only be 17 but has shone in the United academy during his first year at the club.
So much so that, according to the , Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is considering calling the Frenchman up.
That would make him the sixth-choice central midfielder - the understudy who would often make the bench and potentially get some first-team minutes under his belt - behind Paul Pogba, Bruno Fernandes, Scott McTominay, Fred and Nemanja Matic.
United did something similar with McTominay when he broke through, albeit at a slighter older age, to build up his experience.
And it would also mean Mejbri would bypass the Under-23s team at United, for whom he has made just one start this season as he adjusts to life in England.
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The Red Devils snapped up the talented teenager last summer in a £9.3million move after he fell out with Monaco and his new club have big plans for him.
And it is safe to say United know they have struck gold by landing the France Under-17 international, dubbed the 'new Kylian Mbappe' as he originates from the same eastern Parisian suburbs as the Paris Saint-Germain striker.
In fact, eight of France's World Cup-winning squad were developed in the area - including N'Golo Kante and Mejbri's mentor at Old Trafford, Pogba.
Nicky Butt, part of the Class of '92 that came through the academy together, is keen to keep a lid on expectations - even if the club cannot hide his talent.
The head of first-team development at Manchester United said: “It’s hard to get him under the radar when we’ve chased him for so long and he’s come from a big club for a big fee, so that’s impossible.
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“But you want to get young people under the radar because, coming from a different country and getting the price tag in your head and coming to one of the biggest clubs in the world, there’s going to be so much pressure in the first place.
“I’ve got a 16-year-old kid who, I would hate that pressure on their shoulders…
“But they have that and it’d be foolish to put them out there too soon, because you don’t know what’s around the corner. They’re children.”
