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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Jake Polden

Who is Hannibal Mejbri? Man Utd wonderkid with highest potential rating on FM20

Football Manager is all about wonderkids.

For years the world's most addictive simulation game has introduced us to some of the most promising youngsters on the planet, with many becoming household names in the real world.

Of course, the game is legendary for tipping big futures for the likes of Cherno Samba.

But in recent years the drastically-improved database has become sensationally accurate, meaning young players showing promise in the game are almost certainly showing promise behind closed doors at their respective club's academy.

Manchester United is blessed with a number of wonderkids.

The club is arguably the biggest in the world, so it's not unusual for a side with state of the art facilities and a huge global appeal to be attracting and producing football's next generation.

Hannibal Mejbri has a very bright future (AFP/Getty Images)

But according to Football Manager 2020 - the game's latest installment - one player is above everyone else currently at Manchester United's academy: Hannibal Mejbri.

Mejbri isn't a household name, even among Manchester United fans.

But sign him in the game and you're sitting on one of the best players ever produced in France - as long as you nurture his development correctly.

So just who is Mejbri?

Born in January 2003, Mejbri is from Ivry-sur-Seine in France and is of Tunisian decent.

The 16-year-old's football career began at Monaco, where he came through the ranks as an attacking central midfielder, before transferring to United for £4.2million rising to £8.4m.

To date, the midfielder has made eight appearances for France's Under-16s side.

At United, Mejbri has played in both the Under-18s Premier League and Premier League 2, racking up a total of 10 appearances in which he's scored once and assisted five times.

Mejbri also played in United Under-18s' FA Youth Cup victory over Lincoln, and was arguably the Red Devils' best player on the day.

Mejbri in action against Lincoln in the FA Youth Cup (Getty Images)

The 16-year-old has been compared to Paul Pogba, with United academy head Nick Cox telling the MEN: "His performances have been very good.

"The first objective for any player that arrives from outside of the country is to settle and build relationships and acclimatise, in terms of where are you going to be living, what do you know about your environment.

"That's really the only expectation we have on him at the moment in these early phases; it's just to settle. And he's doing that nicely. And then it'll be about how do we help to nurture him to challenge him to get as close to the first-team as we possibly can?"

Football Manager 20 rates him as highly as Manchester City's Phil Foden - and higher than his team-mate Angel Gomes.

It's still early days for the teenager, but he's certainly one to keep an eye on.

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