Manchester United have reportedly agreed a deal with AS Monaco to sign highly-rated Hannibal Mejbri after the player had a fallout with the French giants.
Manchester United have officially announced that they have agreed terms with AS Monaco for the transfer of Hannibal Mejbri. The deal sees Mejbri join the club subject to international clearance from FIFA, which, once received, will clear Mejbri to represent the Red Devils.
The 16-year-old will join up with the rest of the foreign recruits for the Under-18 squad at Manchester United, with the likes of Dilon Hoogewerf, Mateo Mejia and Johan Guadagno, with the club having received international clearance for the three stars who are joining from Ajax, Real Zaragoza and Brommapojkarna, respectively.
In fact, Hoogewerf already featured for Manchester United Under-18s, coming on as a second-half substitute as the club trounced Sunderland Under-18s 3-0 to kick their campaign off brightly. While all of the aforementioned players are rated highly, Mejbri is regarded as a special talent, with reports claiming that Manchester United have splashed £9 million to bring the AS Monaco prodigy over to England.
Official: United have reached an agreement with Monaco for Hannibal Mejbri subject to FIFA approval. #mufc [MU] pic.twitter.com/fio1HDjjVN
— United Xtra (@utdxtra) August 11, 2019
It is worth noting that there was a time in the summer when it looked like Manchester United would be able to get Mejbri for free, with the player’s camp filing for his AS Monaco contract to be terminated. But, the ruling was in favour of the French giants, which meant that United would have to convince Monaco with a lucrative offer to let go of Mejbri.
AS Monaco would also probably would not have liked to keep Mejbri around, despite his talent, with the player not wanting to prolong his stay at the club. The French giants though, have bred in many youngsters into their first-team setup, especially the likes of Jonathan Panzo and Enzo Millot, who have been promoted this season itself.
At Manchester United though, there has been a revolution of sorts under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who is set to involve a lot of the academy aces in the first-team setup this season, which would provide hope to the likes of Mejbri, Hoogewerf, Mejia and Guadagno.
The 16-year-old midfielder will now be looking to walk in the footsteps of United academy aces and fellow midfielders Scott McTominay, James Garner, Dylan Levitt and Angel Gomes, who have made the step up and are either in the first-team setup or close to breaking in.
