With former Manchester United youngster Hannibal Mejbri signing a four year contract with Championship side Burnley, here at Football Park we want to evaluate on his career so far and what he can bring to Scott Parker’s team.

We are pleased to confirm the signing of Hannibal Mejbri on a four-year deal from Manchester United for an undisclosed fee.

Welcome to Burnley 🤝

— Burnley FC (@BurnleyOfficial) August 28, 2024

Breaking Through The Ranks

Originally starting his footballing career in France, Manchester United purchased Hannibal for €10 million from AS Monaco’s Under 18s. Showing signs of promise at a young age and at a club that has produced some of the best talents this game has ever seen, leaving Monaco on August 11th 2019 would change his life forever.

📝 DEAL DONE: Manchester United have confirmed the signing of 16-year old Hannibal Mejbri from Monaco for a fee that could rise to €10m. (Source: @ManUtd) pic.twitter.com/qjFRkZCDFS

— Transfer News Live (@DeadlineDayLive) August 11, 2019

Despite only being 17 years old, he was rapidly progressing through each youth level setups until he made his way to the senior squad. It wasn’t until two years later that Hannibal put pen to paper and signed his first professional contract with The Red Devils. Mejbri finally made his professional debut for the men’s first team in a 2-1 Premier League victory against Wolverhampton Wanders in which he entered the field in the 82nd minute, a dream come true for him.

Multiple Loan Spells

Unfortunately, due to managerial replacements and his age, Hannibal was placed on loan at Birmingham City as he was not going to get the game time that he would have wanted at United. It was announced on the 22nd of August 2022 that he would spend the 22/23 season with the Midlands based club. Some positives came from that spell though. Hannibal finally scored his first professional goal in his career. A memorable free kick that caught everybody out, including most importantly the West Brom goalkeeper as the likelihood of shot from the angle of the set piece wasn’t very high.

Official, confirmed. Hannibal Mejbri has completed his move from Man United to Birmingham City on loan, no buy option included. 🔵🤝 #BCFC

Mejbri, prepared to extend contract with Man United in the next months as talks will continue. #MUFC pic.twitter.com/YcpbLqIYMj

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 29, 2022

Hannibal came back from Birmingham at the end of May 2023 and was left to rot on Manchester United’s bench or reserves. He did manage to score his first Premier League goal in a home defeat to Brighton, 3-1 the final score. Fast forward to the January transfer window in 2024 and Sevilla keen on bringing Mejbri in so a loan move is agreed between the two clubs.

🔴⚪️🇹🇳 Official, confirmed. Hannibal Mejbri has joined Sevilla on loan with buy option clause from Man United.

€20m clause in June, not mandatory.

€35m buy back clause until 2026.

Sell-on clause also included. pic.twitter.com/VUuYkKHjKV

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) January 15, 2024

Sevilla did not decide to execute the option to buy clause in his loan deal meaning that on June 30th 2024, Hannibal was sent back to Manchester United and left wondering what the rest of his career has in store.

Burnley Splash The Cash

Thank you @ManUtd pic.twitter.com/y17eSrtw1l

— Hannibal Mejbri (@HannibalMejbri) August 28, 2024

After just over five years, Hannibal Mejbri’s time at Manchester United is up. On the 28th of August 2024 a deal between Championship side Burnley was made. A €6.40 million transfer that sees Hannibal on a four year contract. The deal includes a buy-back clause and a 50% sell on clause that United will receive should he leave Burnley.

Hannibal has already made his debut for the club, 45 minutes in Burnley's Carabao Cup match against Wolves. History coming round in full circle as that was the same team that Mejbri came on versus in his very first professional game for Manchester all those years ago.

What Will Hannibal Allow Burnley To Do?

Hannibal was once wanted by Borussia Dortmund but can bounce back to the heights he was at when those rumours came about. He mainly played a couple minutes off the bench for Sevilla as part of a disappointing loan spell but during his stint at Birmingham, Hannibal was showing impressive performances. Per 90 minutes of football, Mejbri was averaging 3.14 shot creating actions, 2.13 progressive carries, 4.02 progressive passes received, 2.31 tackles and 1.20 in both block and interceptions.

Reaching those numbers once again will prove a difficult task for Hannibal but if he has the belief from Burnley manager Scott Parker and Hannibal himself starts believing in the performances he can put in, then The Clarets have got their hands on a player with an abundance of potential.

Strength in midfield won't do Burnley any harm as the Championship brings a more demanding campaign in comparison to the Premier League. If Scott Parker and the rest of the Burnley staff and players want to make it back to the top flight of English football signing players like Hannibal Mejbri will do wonders for them and maybe even see them lift the title for automatic promotion, beating out the bookie’s favourites in Leeds United.