HANNIBAL MEJBRI is Manchester United’s new cult hero – after shrugging off “trauma” at his old club aged 16 and family pressure to become a doctor.
The midfielder, 20, is now treating fans when he could easily have been treating patients in what he hopes is a breakthrough season.
And despite being a playmaker, he has an astonishing stat to back up his terrier-like reputation with Old Trafford supporters.
He averages 100 pressures per 90 minutes – 21.3 more than anyone else in the Premier League.
But it could have been so different – both on and off the field.
Hannibal’s father Lotfi Mejbri has explained how the French-born player’s spell at his previous team, Monaco, turned sour.
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Mejbri Senior told Le Parisien: “Something bad happened. For our family, it was very hard to live. It’s a real shock, a trauma.
“There were mistakes made and, from there, I consider the relationship of trust between the club and our family destroyed.”
And it’s also the starlet’s dad who admits to playing the lead role in hoping his son had switched careers to train as a doctor or lawyer.
He said: “Even if he does [make it as a footballer], I do not want him to have a chickpea for a brain in his head.”
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There’s no sign of that as Mejbri Jnr has built on the success of his loan spell with Championship side Birmingham last season.
He’s only made five Premier League appearances so far.
And although he’s certainly not got a chickpea for a brain, he might hope to emulate the success United enjoyed when they had a Little Pea for a striker.
Mexico legend Javier Hernandez – nicknamed “Chicharito”, meaning Little Pea – won two Prem titles at Old Trafford from 2010-15.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
