Manchester United midfielder Hannibal Mejbri has earned glowing praise from Birmingham City manager John Eustace after making a bright start to his loan spell.
Hannibal has followed the path trodden by fellow United youngsters Tahith Chong and Teden Mengi by joining the Blues on a temporary basis. The 19-year-old has made three senior appearances for United, but has been sent out by Erik ten Hag to gain valuable first-team experience in the Championship.
So far he has featured 10 times in the league for Birmingham, who are 15th following their 2-1 defeat by high-flying Blackburn on Saturday. After starting the previous three matches to help his team beat Bristol City and Hull and draw against Burnley, he was dropped to the bench for Saturday’s game.
Explaining the decision, Eustace paid tribute to Hannibal’s work rate. "The way he has played in the last couple of games has been phenomenal," he said. "He has broken records for total distance [covered], all that kind of stuff.
"It was important we also used the squad. [Juninho] Bacuna came in today and did well and Hanni came on for that last half hour and was very good. I have said it is a squad game, everyone will be used, we are certainly stretched at the moment but it's important everyone gets that opportunity to play and feel wanted."
Hannibal has enjoyed a rise to prominence over the past year, with his United first team debut followed by senior call-ups for Tunisia. But while his appearances for the Red Devils have been most notable for his two yellow cards in three games, it seems Hannibal is making a very different sort of impression at Birmingham.
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“He is a cracking young player, we are very fortunate to have him here,” Eustace said earlier this week, after Birmingham fans voted him man of the match on Twitter in the 2-0 win over Hull last weekend. “The most pleasing thing is that work-rate. He has come from Manchester United with a big reputation. But to earn the right to play, earn the right to do anything you have to work hard. And to play in this team as well you need a team of workers.
“He has come in, he has shown he is very hungry, he has got that desire to work hard, the effort is there. He is doing very well at the moment. I haven’t seen him tired yet.
“All he does is gives me the thumbs up, I don’t think he understands what I am saying ‘Yes coach, no problems’. Listen, he’s obviously a talent, let’s hope he just continues that, there are going to be times when he has to come out of the team, going to have to be rested with rotations but at the moment he is playing fantastically well. I think the lads are really enjoying playing with him.”
