Birmingham City will have happy memories of Manchester United’s Hannibal Mejbri from their time together last season.
The midfielder spent the full 2022/23 Championship season with the Blues, leaving a positive impression under former manager John Eustace.
A year later, Birmingham are under a new manager and face new challenges as they seek to maintain their status in the second division.
Obviously, the entire football club will be focused on avoiding relegation this season, and the expectation is that once that is verified, they will be able to shift their attention to what they intend to accomplish this summer.
The disappointment of this season may mean that the club looks to make multiple changes in the summer, and new developments around Hannibal may mean that the Blues consider conducting another transfer.
Hannibal Mejbri is set to return to Manchester United this summer
After impressing on loan with Birmingham last season, it was unclear what would happen to Hannibal Mejbri at Old Trafford this season.
The Tunisian international was given a pre-season to impress manager Erik ten Hag, which he accomplished, as he was not allowed to leave the club in the summer and remained a member of the first team.
Unfortunately, the 21-year-old only made ten appearances for the Red Devils across all competitions between August and January.
Hannibal impressed in his debut start against Burnley earlier this season, but he has since been limited to a few minutes off the bench.
So, as Manchester United’s players returned from injury, Hannibal slid lower down the pecking order, and he was loaned out to Sevilla in January.
However, the midfielder’s loan tenure has been unsuccessful, with only four appearances for the Spanish team, one of which was a start.
Hannibal played 53 minutes against Real Sociedad a few weeks ago, but then was benched for the next two games before missing the game against Getafe entirely.
With the loan setback, the Manchester Evening News reports that Hannibal is anticipated to return to Manchester United this summer.
Birmingham City should keep an eye on the developments of Hannibal Mejbri
Hannibal Mejbri’s anticipated return to Old Trafford this summer may upset the Premier League club, as when the player agreed to join Sevilla, a £17 million option to make the deal permanent was included.
Man United and Sevilla also agreed to include a buy-back mechanism in the deal to prepare for a possible deal.
Our on-loan playmaker Hannibal has claimed Birmingham City's Goal of the Season award! 👏
So, with all indicators pointing to United looking to allow Hannibal depart the club at the conclusion of the season, his loan with Sevilla turning out to be a disappointment may not be good news.
That means Hannibal will be back at the club, and they will have to look into negotiating a new contract with a club, which may be more difficult considering his time with the Spanish side.
The midfielder is under contract at Old Trafford until the summer of 2025, thus Man United might look into another loan transfer this summer or offload him permanently.
Either way, Birmingham City should be keeping an eye on his situation, as he could potentially be open to a return to the Blues after impressing last season.
Hannibal started 21 of the 38 Championship games he played last season, recording one goal and five assists.
The midfielder isn’t known for his scoring abilities, as he averaged one goal every 1956 minutes of play, but he wasn’t scared to take shots on goal, averaging 0.4, according to Sofascore.com.
Hannibal was better recognized for his ball work, as he created six huge opportunities for the Blues and collected 0.9 critical passes per game with a 72% pass accuracy rate.
The Tunisian international wasn’t afraid of doing the dirty work, a factor that made him a fan favourite at Birmingham, as he averaged 1.3 tackles per game, 0.7 interceptions, and won the ball back 0.4 times, as per Sofascore.com.
Obviously, Birmingham are unlikely to be willing to pay what Manchester United is demanding for, but they may provide the midfielder with the opportunity to return to playing his best and enjoying his game while he decides what he wants to do next with his career.
Man United is aware that Hannibal performed well for the Blues last season, and they may consider that again when determining what to do with the player this summer. Furthermore, Birmingham may lose Jordan James this summer, so signing Hannibal could be a solid starting point in finding a potential successor.
