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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Sport
Casey Evans

Hannibal Mejbri's AFCON success could prove he can be Manchester United's new creative weapon

Manchester United currently have two players competing in the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON). Eric Bailly is a crucial member of Ivory Coast's defence, but most fans will be more interested in youngster Hannibal Mejbri with Tunisia.

With favourites Algeria already out in the group stages, all eyes were on Nigeria vs Tunisia in the knock-out round to see who would progress.

Besides the hosts Cameroon, Nigeria were one of the sides that had most impressed during the early matches, so many expected them to progress, but Tunisia opened the scoring in the 47th minute thanks to a goal from striker Youssef Msakni.

And when midfielder Alex Iwobi was sent off for Nigeria in the 66th minute, it seemed that they were going to go out despite all their early promise. Thanks to an outstanding defensive performance by Tunisia, that's just what happened.

Mejbri was an unused substitute but had been a critical part of Tunisia's team during the group stage. With Burkina Faso up next, they have a chance of progressing to the semi-finals against one of Cameroon, Comoros, Guinea or Gambia.

The longer their run goes on, the more likely it becomes that Mejbri could return to United as an AFCON champion before he has fully broken into the United first team.

And given his performances for the development sides and his national team, he seems like an exciting prospect that Ralf Rangnick will relish having as part of his squad.

Speaking with United's official media, Rangnick said of the player after he returned from his last spell with the national team: "Hannibal was here training for the first time since I arrived, having just come back from the Arab Cup.

"Unfortunately for us and for him he will be missing out again in January because of the Africa Cup of Nations. I watched the final before his substitution and I'm fully aware that we have another good, highly-talented player coming from our youth ranks and hopefully after the Africa Cup of Nations he can regularly train and be part of our group."

Hannibal is an accomplished dribbler who thrives playing between the lines, as United fans will have seen if they watched him during the AFCON.

His ability to be a significant part of the club's interplay from the left-hand side of the field would provide United with a different option that they currently have. He could be a practical option off the bench or during cup matches.

Anthony Elanga has already taken his chances as part of the United squad. Could Mejbri be next?

Do you think that Hannibal Mejbri can make an impact as part of the Manchester United first team? Follow our United On My Mind writer Casey Evans on Twitter and get involved in the discussion in the comment section below.

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