I never said Elanga didn't do well. I said it took him longer to adjust than Hannibal in terms of performance. Which to me matters when trying to evaluate potential step ups or talent. I don't judge Hannibal with goals and assists because some players' impact goes beyond that. For an attacker, it is a little more important. For example, when Januzaj first went to the u21s, his goal scoring and assists weren't awe inspiring. However, because he was so classy on the ball even while playing as a striker sometimes (would often alternate with Lingard), he impacted the game through his ability and made the team better. When he played against Tottenham to decide the u21 title, Januzaj did not have assists, but had the pass before the assist. Was the best player on the pitch that day.
I don't know how you judge players if you don't believe Hannibal has not been consistently one of the 2 best players every match at u23 level. The kid keeps possession, is great at starting attacks with his dribbling, provides excellent service to his teammates, and has a bit of workrate.
Now I remember the only flaws he had initially. You could say he had bad defensive awareness apart from his petulance. Apart from that, I think he's been better than Elanga at u18-u23 level. Elanga, being older was usually one of the top 2 players for United match by match. I'm not disagreeing with that at all. He had already outgrown the u23 level. I feel the same about Hannibal.
