Hannibal Mejbri's loan spell already turning into disaster for Man Utd

Jacque Talbot

• Updated: 27 Jan 2024 17:04 GMT
• 3 min read

Hannibal Mejbri’s time at Sevilla on loan from Manchester United is already hitting a snag.

The La Liga side announced that Hannibal Mejbri will not be considered for selection for the foreseeable future despite joining the club just earlier this month, meaning that the option to buy clause in his deal may not be met in the summer.

Man Utd are hoping for a mass exodus for the coming summer window but it could be that Sevilla now won't activate the clause in Hannibal's deal.

The 20-year-old rejected the chance to join Everton instead and made his debut for Sevilla in a 5-1 defeat to Girona last weekend, before being left out of the squad for the midweek defeat to Atletico Madrid in the Copa del Rey.

Sevilla announced that he will not be involved in their league match against Osasuna on Saturday, and will remain out of the side until further notice.

What did Sevilla head coach Quique Sanchez say?

"After being with him, talking to him and having seen his first minutes in Girona, we are going to give him the necessary space to understand where he is, that he is at Sevilla and what it means," Sevilla manager Quique Sanchez Flores said.

"He has to know where he is and we want to see him. We have spoken with him and we believe that he has to have some time to learn, we wanted to give him space, time for him to see things from the outside and then he will return to the squad.

"In the end, they are kids who have come and suddenly land in a huge club like Sevilla in circumstances of maximum demand. And they need a bit of location. And that location may be seen better from the outside than from the inside. You should take a step to understand what we want.

"Let's see if the boy applies himself and I think that in the end, he will understand perfectly what we want."

Sevilla signed Hannibal on loan during the January window, in a deal that will last for the rest of the season with an option to buy, understood to be worth £17.2million.