The point is about playing at professional level and in particular a higher level than reserve leagues, it's not rare to see 18/19 years old players around Europe and England play on a weekly basis in first and second divisions of their countries, I would say that it's fairly normal. And players that are at big clubs and aren't playing by that time often leave their clubs for playing time permanently or on loan, in the case of Mejbri it's a good thing that we extend him soon.
The future of Hannibal Mejbri - will he get a real chance this season?
- Thread starter Bastian
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The point is about playing at professional level and in particular a higher level than reserve leagues, it's not rare to see 18/19 years old players around Europe and England play on a weekly basis in first and second divisions of their countries, I would say that it's fairly normal. And players that are at big clubs and aren't playing by that time often leave their clubs for playing time permanently or on loan, in the case of Mejbri it's a good thing that we extend him soon.
I think VDB has been kept in the squad this season to be a warm body until Mejbri is ready to sit on the bench.
So I don't expect Hannibal to get too many minutes until next season. Which might mean a loan in January.
So I don't expect Hannibal to get too many minutes until next season. Which might mean a loan in January.
True but then a sub role and some cup games is fine for a player transitioning from U23 and who will still play reserve games. VDB is at a point where he needs starts and I won’t condemn Ole for keeping him when the board clearly had no plan to replace him. VDB may not play but if Fred and Matic for example both miss significant time it would be stupid to have let VDB leave on a loan. Ole is bound to want to consider worst case scenarios and not leave the squad short just to keep VDB happy.
With the squad depth we have maybe a early cup round game or 2 at best
Do you want to say that he is worse than what we have, on merit?
Perhaps McTominay and Fred are better, but the others?
I think he is good enough for a few games here and there but doubt he will get them
Many on here seem to be arguing he has a right to first team appearances or he’s not being given a fair shake. His chance will come in how he trains with the first team. If he looks like he can cut it I have no doubt he will get game time. If he’s not getting game time it’s because he isn’t good enough in training. If he can’t produce the goods in a non competitive environment with fully grown professionals, then why would he be able to turn it on when thrown into a competitive Premier League game?
Elanga, Williams, Shoretire and Greenwood tell you that Ole will play young lads if they look close to good enough, and the fact we were looking for a midfielder tells you Ole is aware it’s a weak point. If he has a solution in the club already I’m fairly sure he’d use it.
This one has the whiff of an Angel Gomes about it, a decent enough player, but a bit small for the Premier League and maybe not quite good enough yet for a team with title aspirations.
As for loaning him, how often does that actually work for us in terms of developing a player into a first teamer for us? The last one I definitely remember was Beckham being farmed out to a championship side.
Keep him for another couple of seasons, if he’s good enough he’ll break through, if not who cares. We’re United fans and the club comes first, we’re not some young persons outreach charity for maximising the careers and potential of young kids from around the world.
Elanga, Williams, Shoretire and Greenwood tell you that Ole will play young lads if they look close to good enough, and the fact we were looking for a midfielder tells you Ole is aware it’s a weak point. If he has a solution in the club already I’m fairly sure he’d use it.
This one has the whiff of an Angel Gomes about it, a decent enough player, but a bit small for the Premier League and maybe not quite good enough yet for a team with title aspirations.
As for loaning him, how often does that actually work for us in terms of developing a player into a first teamer for us? The last one I definitely remember was Beckham being farmed out to a championship side.
Keep him for another couple of seasons, if he’s good enough he’ll break through, if not who cares. We’re United fans and the club comes first, we’re not some young persons outreach charity for maximising the careers and potential of young kids from around the world.
Adds nothing to the discussion
'A bit small for the premier like Angel Gomes'
You can't reason with opinions like the above. But he/she got a like out of it..
You can't reason with opinions like the above. But he/she got a like out of it..
It's well written you have to give him that but obvious the poster barely watches him.
I don't know much about him except his first team performances but could he be our replacement for Pogba?
Do they play similar positions or a similar way? Or could he in the future?
Just last season Pogba wasn't starting every game for us - so he could potentially save us in the market if he can do it.
Do they play similar positions or a similar way? Or could he in the future?
Just last season Pogba wasn't starting every game for us - so he could potentially save us in the market if he can do it.
08/09 says hi! We wouldn't have won the title without giving Macheda a chance. Personally, I think Mejbri is an that bracket of kids being talented enough to warrant game time.
Macheda played a total of 190 mins that season. As much as we should be thankful for the Villa goal, title wasn't dependent on his performances and rightly so.
Point stands, bit naive to expect an 18 year old to help us in a title challenge.
You can't underestimate how important that goal was. No title win is ever dependant on an individual moment, but that one was key. Point being, you can give players a chance in a title challenging team, and sometimes you can benefit from it.
No one is expecting Mejbri to lead us to anything either. What we're saying is that he's certainly talented enough to get the odd appearance regardless of whether we're in a title challenge or not as there are plenty of cup games, too.
Is he a #10 or a #8?
A few thoughts...
1. As with any player, they have to force their way into the managers thinking with their displays at Reserve team level and in training against other options the manager has. Mejbri normally plays as an attacking midfielder so that means he is up against Fernandes, Pogba and Lingard for a place in the team. Solskjaer sees him in training every day so is best positioned to make that call.
2. You can test their potential by giving young players some cameo's at the end of games where the result is probably a given. The last 15 mins against Leeds was a good example. However, given our pre-season there were other first team players and new signings that also needed some match time. I would expect Mejbri to get some more opportunities this season.
3. Of the 120+ loans that United have used over the last 20 years statistics have proved that 95% don't work out for a variety of reasons. I can only think of O'Shea, Welbeck, Evans, Lingard, Henderson and maybe Cleverley, where they came back as improved players and went on to play regularly in the first team. For the others it confirmed their 'level' or had no discernible impact. In fact in most cases, the player came back to United with an acceptance that they probably wouldn't make it and needed to move on. So whilst a loan might help Mejbri there are no guarantees.
4. There is a massive difference between playing in most European leagues at 17/18 versus doing so in the English top division. Whilst I don't watch every other league every week, the physicality and culture in England is so different. Even experienced internationals coming here as senior players comment on how it takes them a season to adapt properly. Someone mentioned wide players and they tend to get more chances as they are little more protected. There might be some truth in that as Ferguson proved with Darren Fletcher so perhaps Solskjaer has an option there. On the other side we still have Sancho, Rashford, Greenwood, Martial, Elanga who are genuine wide players with pace.
5. You can't play everyone, and Mejbri may just have to bide his time.
1. As with any player, they have to force their way into the managers thinking with their displays at Reserve team level and in training against other options the manager has. Mejbri normally plays as an attacking midfielder so that means he is up against Fernandes, Pogba and Lingard for a place in the team. Solskjaer sees him in training every day so is best positioned to make that call.
2. You can test their potential by giving young players some cameo's at the end of games where the result is probably a given. The last 15 mins against Leeds was a good example. However, given our pre-season there were other first team players and new signings that also needed some match time. I would expect Mejbri to get some more opportunities this season.
3. Of the 120+ loans that United have used over the last 20 years statistics have proved that 95% don't work out for a variety of reasons. I can only think of O'Shea, Welbeck, Evans, Lingard, Henderson and maybe Cleverley, where they came back as improved players and went on to play regularly in the first team. For the others it confirmed their 'level' or had no discernible impact. In fact in most cases, the player came back to United with an acceptance that they probably wouldn't make it and needed to move on. So whilst a loan might help Mejbri there are no guarantees.
4. There is a massive difference between playing in most European leagues at 17/18 versus doing so in the English top division. Whilst I don't watch every other league every week, the physicality and culture in England is so different. Even experienced internationals coming here as senior players comment on how it takes them a season to adapt properly. Someone mentioned wide players and they tend to get more chances as they are little more protected. There might be some truth in that as Ferguson proved with Darren Fletcher so perhaps Solskjaer has an option there. On the other side we still have Sancho, Rashford, Greenwood, Martial, Elanga who are genuine wide players with pace.
5. You can't play everyone, and Mejbri may just have to bide his time.
My understanding (I've watched him a couple of times but mostly going off what others have said) is that he mostly plays in the more attacking positions at the moment either off the wing or #10, but he has the all-round game that indicates he could develop more into a #8. I've seen a few people compare him to Modric in that sense.
He wont get much chances this season, because Lingard will get them. Lingard is blocking the gametime of people like Mjebri.
Bruno/VdB
Greenwood/Sancho
Rashford/Martial
Ronaldo/Cavani
We already have 8 proper starters for 4 positions. Then we have the likes of Mata and Lingard. So people like Elanga, Amad and Mjebri have very little chances of featuring.
Bruno/VdB
Greenwood/Sancho
Rashford/Martial
Ronaldo/Cavani
We already have 8 proper starters for 4 positions. Then we have the likes of Mata and Lingard. So people like Elanga, Amad and Mjebri have very little chances of featuring.
Mejbri is no smaller or lightweight than Fernandes, to use that as a reason of him not making it is frankly silly.
The only thing that might hold him back is finding a position for him. We've got a pretty stacked team right now, I think it'll be mainly cup matches or using him from the bench if we're winning by a good margin.
We should probably send him on loan in January if he doesn't get many minutes as he's too good for reserve level.
The only thing that might hold him back is finding a position for him. We've got a pretty stacked team right now, I think it'll be mainly cup matches or using him from the bench if we're winning by a good margin.
We should probably send him on loan in January if he doesn't get many minutes as he's too good for reserve level.
For all those suggesting he should have been loaned out or should be in January, my understanding from what more knowledgable posters here have said, is that in order for him to qualify as home grown he needs to stay at the club this season. Next season he could be loaned out.
For that newbie who amazingly got a like for his post saying that we owe nothing to players like Mejbri, that's completely missing the point. It is to our benefit that we nurture a huge talent on which we spent 10m euros to prize him away from other top European clubs. He is too good for the level he plays at and he gets no protection either, so it's a pretty detrimental situation.
The most interesting part is that Adnan mentioned that at Monaco he played as an #8. So he could be developed that way for us as well, and we don't really have technical #8s outside of Donny, and they are radically different players, with one wanting the ball and the other always looking to move it on as quick as possible (which requires him either to change or for our whole tactical setup to be changed).
For that newbie who amazingly got a like for his post saying that we owe nothing to players like Mejbri, that's completely missing the point. It is to our benefit that we nurture a huge talent on which we spent 10m euros to prize him away from other top European clubs. He is too good for the level he plays at and he gets no protection either, so it's a pretty detrimental situation.
The most interesting part is that Adnan mentioned that at Monaco he played as an #8. So he could be developed that way for us as well, and we don't really have technical #8s outside of Donny, and they are radically different players, with one wanting the ball and the other always looking to move it on as quick as possible (which requires him either to change or for our whole tactical setup to be changed).
I think at least two of (maybe all 3) Amad, Mejbri, and Elanga will go on loan in January.
Amad and Elanga will have plenty of suitors — I’m sure Mejbri will have a bunch but because he’s quite a unique profile in that he’s sort of like that CM and a no.10 mix, we’ll need to make sure he gets the right sort of loan.
Amad and Elanga will have plenty of suitors — I’m sure Mejbri will have a bunch but because he’s quite a unique profile in that he’s sort of like that CM and a no.10 mix, we’ll need to make sure he gets the right sort of loan.
The qualification is based on total amount of time, it doesn't have to be consecutive. So in this case Mejbri has 3 season to get the last required season.
Should just loan em all to Forest, link up with Garner and probably be better than what they have currently. Get some regular minutes, push for promotion, their value rockets, everybody wins. A bit like Lampard and Derby with Chelsea players a couple of years back.
But getting it now means he can be selected as a homegrown player from next season onwards. Which will obviously make that first breakthrough a bit easier for him.
He is underage so he won’t be selected as anything next year.
It’s a completely irrelevant point and absolutely not the reason he hasn’t gone on loan. He has 3 seasons to get the final year, if he needs 3 years of loans then being homegrown is the last of our worries. Any loan in England would make him homegrown anyway. Half our squad is homegrown anyway so it means feck all to us whether he counts as homegrown or not.
That's not actually that important because United already has enough homegrown players and United also has enough homegrown players from the club, the UEFA require 4 of the latters. Mejbri is eligible for the U21 list and also doesn't have to be registered from UEFA standpoint.
@limerickcitykid @JPRouve
That makes it even more incredible that we haven't found him a proper loan this season as he really really needs to play real football. Amazing.
That makes it even more incredible that we haven't found him a proper loan this season as he really really needs to play real football. Amazing.
I expected him to go on loan, maybe it will happen in Jan - he's far down the pecking order and even in the League Cup I doubt he plays
He should be given a chance over the likes of Lingard and Mata but he won’t be. We will still play Ronaldo 90 minutes against a league one side.
Hannibal, Amad and Elanga should play in the cup games. Will keep our first team fit for the league and Champions League, while developing these youngsters and allowing them to grow in to the team.
Adds nothing to the discussion
Even if you want to discount Lingard or Mataz there are several kids ahead of Mejbri who deserve a shot first - Amad, Elanga, Garner, Shoretire etc
He's pretty far down the pecking order
Hopefully I get to watch him and Amad play together for the u23’s again this season. Both are way too good for that level and need minutes above the likes of Mata and Lingard (who I actually like) who don’t have a future with us.
None of those kids play in his position. And Garner is out on loan.
Ye but my point is that Garner is more ready for the 1st team than Hannibal
His position is not that clear yet anyway
Why on earth does Shoretire deserve a shot first? He's much further away from being ready, just because he's had a few first team experiences, don't let that trick you into thinking he's banging on the door. He's got a lot of growing and ground to make up in my opinion. Great potential talent though.
Well he's already had a shot and did well enough but ye he probably needs to prove himself on loan just like Mejbri TBF - the others are more advanced
How long does his contract last? If its not long left then PSG have probably already tapped him up.
He extend his contract recently, the club is safe.
Hannibal IMO is a bigger talent in comparison to Garner, Elanga etc.
@Bastian , Hannibal was being developed as a play making #8 at Monaco in a 3 man midfield where he was deployed as the LCM, and used as the deep lying play maker in the first phase of the build up and moved forward with the transition in possession to knit everything together. He was basically their metronome who was involved in helping transition play from deeper aswell as getting forward and linking defense to attack. Monaco's play basically went through Hannibal starting from the build up phase in a deeper role.
And I know this because Monaco stream their u17/19 games in full. And several of those games are still on their YouTube channel to view, and I think I might've posted links to a few of those games when we signed him.
And it was at United where we changed his position. But what's important to note is that Hannibal recently said in a interview that his original position was always in midfield but since coming to United he is now comfortable playing off the left or as the #10 due to being used in more advanved roles which has improved his game further and made him more complete as a player.
@Bastian , Hannibal was being developed as a play making #8 at Monaco in a 3 man midfield where he was deployed as the LCM, and used as the deep lying play maker in the first phase of the build up and moved forward with the transition in possession to knit everything together. He was basically their metronome who was involved in helping transition play from deeper aswell as getting forward and linking defense to attack. Monaco's play basically went through Hannibal starting from the build up phase in a deeper role.
And I know this because Monaco stream their u17/19 games in full. And several of those games are still on their YouTube channel to view, and I think I might've posted links to a few of those games when we signed him.
And it was at United where we changed his position. But what's important to note is that Hannibal recently said in a interview that his original position was always in midfield but since coming to United he is now comfortable playing off the left or as the #10 due to being used in more advanved roles which has improved his game further and made him more complete as a player.