Romano reveals the reason behind Man Utd's Hannibal loan nightmare

Tom Weber

• Updated: 5 Mar 2024 11:15 GMT
• 3 min read

Hannibal Mejbri is not playing at Sevilla due to his youth, according to Fabrizio Romano.

The Manchester United youngster headed to LaLiga in the January transfer window after seeing his game time at Old Trafford diminish drastically. At one point this season, the Tunisia international appeared to be on the verge of breaking into Erik ten Hag's starting lineup, but the Dutchman eventually stopped relying on Hannibal.

In search of regular minutes, the 21-year-old versatile midfielder joined struggling Spanish giants Sevilla on loan. At the time, the reigning Europa League champions were at serious risk of being sucked into a proper relegation scrap. While not completely out of the woods yet, the Andalusians have managed to build up a nice cushion to the drop zone under Quique Sanchez Flores.

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Yet Hannibal, despite his immense talent, has played little part in the club's recent resurgence. To date, the prospect has only featured four times in the league, playing a combined 89 minutes and, rather impressively, receiving two yellow cards.

Why is Hannibal not playing at Sevilla?

Speculation about why exactly Hannibal has been out of the team has been rampant basically ever since he arrived, with Sevilla releasing a statement just a week after his signing that he had been dropped from the first team for the time being.

According to Fabrizio Romano, however, the reason behind his lack of minutes is quite simple: Flores trusts experience over youth to get the job done. "We know it’s not been an easy time for Hannibal Mejbri since he left United to go on loan to Sevilla," Romano told CaughtOffside.

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"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 it is not easy for young players.”

“I think it’s normal, it happens when a club is in a difficult situation. Hannibal will fight to find more space in the next weeks, he remains committed.”