It’s not been an easy start to life on loan at Sevilla for Manchester United youngster Hannibal Mejbri, and Fabrizio Romano has attempted to clear up the situation in his latest Daily Briefing column.
Speaking exclusively to CaughtOffside for the piece, Romano played down any talk of there being anything seriously wrong going on behind the scenes for Mejbri at Sevilla, even if he’s almost instantly found himself out of favour with the manager despite only joining the club in January.
The Tunisia international has long looked like a promising young talent at Old Trafford, even if he struggled to get playing time there, and at first it seemed like a no-brainer for him to go out on loan to boost his chances of playing more often.
However, it seems the situation at Sevilla has prevented that from happening, according to Romano, who says the Spanish side are in trouble in La Liga this season, and are therefore focusing more on playing experienced players.
This doesn’t seem ideal for Mejbri, but at least it’s not something specifically to do with him.
Hannibal Mejbri loan struggles explained by Fabrizio Romano
Discussing Hannibal’s situation, Romano said: “We know it’s not been an easy time for Hannibal Mejbri since he left United to go on loan to Sevilla. Many fans have been asking me about why Hannibal hasn’t played much, and the reality is that Sevilla are in trouble, it’s a difficult season for them so the manager prefers to play experienced players as there’s pressure; that’s why is not easy for young players.”
He added: “I think it’s normal, it happens when a club is in difficult situation. Hannibal will fight to find more space in the next weeks, he remains committed.”
MUFC fans will hope this difficult loan spell doesn’t prove too much of a blow to this player’s development, and it will be interesting to see what happens with him in the summer.