Hannibal Mejbri's much spoken about Anfield cameo left the Manchester United staff pleased despite an acknowledgement he was close to overstepping the mark.
The teenager was bought on in the 84th minute on Merseyside in a game that the Red Devils lost 4-0 to Liverpool. They were outclassed for much of the contest and introduced Mejbri with the score at 3-0 before Mohamed Salah added a fourth. The Tunisian though made sure he was a topic of debate after the game.
He put in a firm challenge on Naby Keita which ended up drawing praise from Gary Neville on commentary. Mejbri had been told by the United staff to impose himself on the contest with the little time he had and there was a general acceptance that he'd been prepared to listen to instructions, reports the Athletic.
His cameo saw Neville declare he was "proud" of the youngster before later confessing he was "unprofessional" for having such an opinion. He said: "It takes a young kid to come on and show the rest of them how to sprint for the ball and put a challenge in. I'm actually proud of him! Maybe he doesn't like the idea of Liverpool players passing it round him. I wish the rest of them were the same."
Neville then added: "That is why I aired on to the slightly unprofessional side of commentary tonight. When I said that the kid [Mejbri] to be fair I was proud of him because he was going round trying to top people and trying to kick people. But he demonstrated something, he showed something. He didn’t like the idea of Liverpool, at Anfield, passing it around him and the idea of Liverpool taking the mick out of him and his teammates."
Mejbri was overlooked for a place in the matchday squad at Arsenal just days later, a match that the Red Devils lost 3-1. Instead he took part in an U23s game at Old Trafford on Friday night with Alejandro Garnacho preferred instead. The teenager moved to Manchester from Monaco in 2019.
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His stock has continued to rise and he turned down a loan switch to Reading in the summer due to the nature of the bid, which came late in the transfer window. Mejbri has designs on playing for Tunisia in the World Cup this winter, where they have been drawn against France.
No doubt his chances of involvement will be bolstered by more minutes, although he already has 12 caps for his country, and discussions will be held about where he plays his football next season. Erik ten Hag's arrival could yet prove crucial as he prepares to decide which players to invest in.
