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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Sport
George Smith

Manchester United fans love Ralf Rangnick's Hannibal Mejbri decision vs Southampton

Several Manchester United supporters have welcomed interim manager Ralf Rangnick's decision to name youngster Hannibal Mejbri on the substitutes bench for this lunchtime's clash with Southampton at Old Trafford.

The midfielder, who recently returned to United after representing Tunisia at the Africa Cup of Nations, has been named on the nine-man bench alongside the likes of Alex Telles, Jesse Lingard and Anthony Elanga.

As proven by Elanga's increase in game time since Rangnick was installed as temporary boss back in November, the German is open to the idea of developing youngsters and granting them opportunities to impress at first-team level.

The central-midfielder, who joined United in August 2019, has been integrated into the first-team squad recently, training with the likes of Bruno Fernandes and Cristiano Ronaldo day-in, day-out at Carrington, meaning he has obviously done enough to impress Rangnick on the training ground.

His inclusion in the matchday squad this lunchtime is the first time that he has made the first-team squad in the league since the final day of last season, when he stepped off the bench late on in the Reds' 2-1 win over Wolves at Molineux. That marked his only appearance in United colours to date.

Highly-rated by both those inside Old Trafford and the supporters, the latter have hailed Rangnick's decision to include Mejbri in the squad this lunchtime.

Below, MEN Sport has taken a close look at what they have had to say on social media.

As you can see by the messages displayed above, United's supporters are really hopeful that Mejbri could earn himself some minutes this afternoon and experience Old Trafford at first-team level for the very first time.

The 19-year-old is highly-rated by those inside the Reds camp and Elanga's recent introduction to the first-team fold on a regular basis will only offer him encouragement that he can follow in his footsteps.

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