La Liga director deflects Manchester United transfer question despite reported talks

One La Liga club’s sporting director has deflected rumours surrounding a loan move for Hannibal Mejbri despite reports that the two clubs have been in contact on Wednesday.

Hannibal Mejbri has had his breakout into Manchester United’s first team stalled in the last few months after multiple promising appearances under Erik ten Hag.

He made his first start in the Premier League against Burnley and impressed in a number of areas, particularly in his pressing game.

Following that game, Sky Sports revealed that the Tunisian midfielder covered 12.9 kilometres during the game. That was more than any United player since Ten Hag took over at the beginning of 2022/23.

At the time, Hannibal also boasted the most pressures per 90 minutes of any Premier League player, yet he has not started a league fixture since.

Now, the 21-year-old has rejected the chance to go to the Africa Cup of Nations so that he can move away from Old Trafford on loan and Sevilla have been heavily linked to landing the midfielder.

Fabrizio Romano reported that they were closing in on a deal before Everton challenged them for the player. It seems to be a battle between the two.

Since then, it has been reported that the Spanish team have moved into ‘pole position’ to secure their target and are set for talks on Wednesday, but Sevilla’s sporting director is not looking to make more headlines now.

Asked about Hannibal Mejbri, among other players linked to the Spanish club, Victor Orta remained tight-lipped.

“I can only talk about Sevilla players,” Orta said, as quoted by Estadio Deportivo. “This fever feeding the market causes a lot of news, but I can’t single out situations.”

The La Liga side sits just one point outside the relegation zone currently after 19 games played.