Why Manchester United wonderkid Hannibal Mejbri deserves your attention

A flash point between Hannibal Mejbri and approximately 1,400 brilliantly boisterous Leeds United fans inside Old Trafford felt inevitable throughout Wednesday night’s FA Youth Cup quarter-final, even as he ignored their taunts, blocked out their jeers and did not let the evening’s confrontational atmosphere affect his performance. It came, eventually, in the closing minutes.

An impressive away following had booed every touch that Manchester United’s highly-regarded young playmaker made up to that point at Old Trafford. They had protested against every one of the fouls he won – there were many, to be fair. And every time Mejbri picked himself up off the floor from one of those tackles, he walked away hearing: “Sideshow Bob is f****** s***”.

Mejbri shares a hairstyle with Krusty the Clown’s malevolent sidekick, you see, and eventually he decided to show a little malevolence of his own. Not long before United's 1-0 win was confirmed, after being caught on the ankle by Stuart McKinstry and writhing in pain for a while, Mejbri rose to his feet and fixed a defiant glare on those Leeds supporters in the distance mocking him, spitting on the ground as he did so, all to the away end’s immense enjoyment.

This is Hannibal Mejbri, for the uninitiated – a young man who cannot help but draw your attention. If you are a United fan you should probably have heard of him by now, even if the €5m spent on a 16-year-old last summer went relatively unnoticed. United expect to eventually pay another €5m in add-ons to Mejbri’s former club Monaco. Even then, they believe it will be money well spent.

Mejbri, who turned 17 last month, hails from the Parisian banlieues which are increasingly recognised as football’s most fertile ground. Eight members of France’s 2018 World Cup-winning squad hailed from its capital’s suburbs and one of that number had a simple explanation for why the immigrant populations of Ile-de-France have produced world class footballers like Kylian Mbappe, N’Golo Kante and himself. “There is only soccer,” Paul Pogba said of his childhood home. “Every day it's the ball. That's all there is.”

It would be remiss of any top club if they did not monitor the region for the next Pogba, Kante or Mbappe and, for all the criticism Manchester United’s recruitment processes attract, this is one area they cannot be accused of ignoring. Aliou Traore, who grew up in Riyad Mahrez’s home district of Sarcelles, was taken out of Paris Saint-Germain’s youth system back in 2017. Noam Emeran, a signing from Amiens, came up through the academy of L'Entente SSG, based in Saint-Gratien.

The most exciting prospect, however, is Mejbri. The youngest of four children to Tunisian parents, he has turned heads in Ile-de-France since he was nine-years-old. By 13, he had signed a boot deal with Adidas. And just over a year ago, he was selected by a group of local talent-spotters and youth coaches as the best young prospect in the region producing more talented young players than anywhere else in the world. Barcelona, Liverpool and Manchester City all wanted him. He joined United.

Watching him on Wednesday night, it is easy to see why there is confidence at Old Trafford that they have acquired a special talent. Adept at collecting and retaining possession in tight spaces, he trapped a loose pass on the byline and nutmegged Niklas Haugland six minutes in. For a typically languid playmaker, he is proactive when it comes to his defensive duties and winning the ball back high up the pitch. It was striking, too, how often he would motion to his United’s team-mates: guiding them, offering advice and instruction, being a leader despite his young age.

And again, despite his tender years, Mejbri is ambitious too. “If I manage to get on the first team in two years, it would be good,” he boldly told Le Parisien shortly after his arrival in Manchester. It is not an entirely unrealistic prospect, especially for a player already turning out regularly for the Under-23s and averaging an assist every 55 minutes in reserve football this season. United’s various issues in midfield and long-standing problems creating chances may fast track his senior debut.

But he has plenty to learn and ample room for improvement. It was noticeable how, for example, after missing a one-on-one opportunity following a lively first 35 minutes, his influence on Wednesday’s quarter-final diminished. Mejbri may have a slight frame but there is a pugnacious side to his game too and an unnecessary habit of talking back to referees. He must also get used to the fact that opponents will kick him and rival fans will go after him, as happened on Wednesday night.

“He will get targeted by any opposition he plays and that is what he has to learn: how to channel and focus his energies and not to get caught up in that,” said Neil Ryan, the son of former United forward Jimmy and the current Under-18s head coach. Ryan was impressed with how Mejbri conducted himself, though. There was even a good-humoured Instagram post in the hours after the final whistle. “Sideshow Bob?”, Mejbri wrote. “I admit that there is a small resemblance.”

Altogether, from this first performance for United on a stage befitting his potential, there was much to like. The promotions of Mason Greenwood and Brandon Williams over the last few months show that the old pathway between the academy and first team still exists. It is, if anything, smoother than in recent years. Several members of this Youth Cup squad will travel down it but Mejbri is the likeliest to make to its end, drawing as much attention from opposition fans as his own along the way.