Fabrizio Romano has weighed in on Hannibal Mejbri’s bizarre start to life in Seville.
The Manchester United loanee opted to join Sevilla in the January window in hopes of securing increased game time away from Old Trafford, rebuffing an approach from Everton in the process.
Minutes were hard to come by for Hannibal throughout the first half of the term; he featured for just 327 minutes on the pitch across 10 appearances, only four of which were as a starter.
United’s depth in midfield has seen even his experienced counterparts such as Christian Eriksen and Sofyan Amrabat reduced to bench roles, so a loan was undoubtedly the most suitable option for the youngster to develop.
However, as it stands, he won’t be doing too much developing over in Spain. He’s been granted a mere 36 minutes of playing time in La Liga through three off-the-bench cameos. Hannibal was an unused substitute for three matches – including Sunday’s loss to Real Madrid – and his last outing lasted a measly one minute.
Reports had suggested that there had been a fallout between the Carrington graduate and his new Sevilla teammates/staff, with Estadio Deportivo labelling his loan spell akin to a soap opera, so Romano has shared his understanding to hopefully provide some clarity on the matter.
Romano talks Hannibal’s peculiar start to Sevilla spell
“My understanding is that it is not a specific incident,” he began in his Daily Briefing with CaughtOffside. “There was some tension in training between some players and Hannibal too, but everything has been clarified and Hannibal spoke directly to the manager to keep the situation quiet.
“It’s all good now, though it’s obviously in not easy in general at Sevilla because their season has been horrible. They remain just a point above the relegation zone in La Liga.”
