Manchester United wonderkid Hannibal Mejbri has been tipped as the next big thing at Old Trafford.
The teenager has enjoyed a stunning start to life in English football with the Red Devils youth side since his big-money move from Monaco last summer.
Mejbri led United Under-18s to the FA Youth Cup semi-finals before action was halted and has been tipped to be fast-tracked into Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s first-team squad.
But United Under-23s boss Neil Wood has given an honest assessment of where Mejbri is at in his development.
And he hinted the 17-year-old could need more time to be physically ready for senior football as United look to give him a bright future by moving him at the right pace.
"I think what you need to remember is Hannibal is still a young lad, he is only 17," Wood told MEN Sport.
"He's not long been here really, he is probably coming up to almost a first completed season if that.
"I think people get sucked into the price-tag, and again that is not Hannibal's fault. So I think he is a young player with potential, he is one of the young players we have got with potential, but there is still a lot of development and learning which needs to be put into him.
"We still need to get him to a higher level to get him to even go and train with the first-team, so there is no rush to start pushing him in that first-team environment right now.
"I think the challenge is going to be enough for him at U23s right now and we are going to push him and try to move him up as quick as we can, but at the same time we won't rush him if he's not ready to do that."
