Manchester United have worked hard to secure the futures of their top prospects with Hannibal and Anthony Elanga signing new deals; Shola Shoretire has also agreed his first professional deal at United; Hannibal and Shoretire were promoted to the first team last month
Tuesday 16 March 2021 12:05, UK
Manchester United have agreed a "long-term contract" with academy midfielder Hannibal Mejbri.
Mejbri, 18, was signed by United from French club Monaco as a 16-year-old during the summer transfer window in 2019 in a deal reportedly worth up to £8.5m.
United revealed on Tuesday they had also tied down Anthony Elanga to a new long-term contract.
The 18-year-old has been at Old Trafford for six years and won the Jimmy Murphy Youth Team Player of the Year award last season.
The Sweden youth international, whose father Joseph played at the 1998 World Cup finals for Cameroon, has played for Neil Wood's U23 side this season, playing 16 times, scoring eight goals with three assists.
United have been quick to secure the futures of their brightest academy prospects, with Shola Shoretire signing his first professional contract last month.
Shoretire, 17, has made two substitute appearances for United's first team and Hannibal could quickly follow in his footsteps before the end of the season as manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer looks to reward his promising youngsters.
The France youth international was under consideration to feature in last month's Europa League round-of-32 second-leg against Real Sociedad, until a shoulder injury ruled him out.
"Hannibal is injured," Solskjaer said ahead of the Europa League tie. "Unfortunately, he got injured in the reserves so he'll be out for a month.
"So he was just coming into our squad and, unfortunately for him, he is out."
Solskjaer confirmed in February that Hannibal, along with Shoretire, had been promoted to the first-team.
"The young kids, we've moved Shola up with us, Hannibal will join us and we'll keep them with us for a while," said Solskjaer. "It's the next step in their development, we've got to take the hit that when they play for the reserves they have to travel by themselves. It's a nice step for them, they've done really well."
Hannibal has played above his age group since arriving at Carrington and has registered four goals and seven assists playing for Neil Wood's U23s this season.
