Manchester United confirm midfield departure in £9.4m deal

Manchester United have confirmed the departure of midfielder Hannibal Mejbri to Burnley.

The 21-year-old, who made 13 senior appearances for United, has departed for an initial fee of £5.4m, which could rise to £9.4m. A 50 percent sell-on percentage of any future transfer has also been included in the deal, although that will reduce over time.

United have added a buy-back option, and can match any bid accepted for Hannibal by another club.

“We wish you the best of luck with your next steps, Hannibal!,” the club said via their website as the transfer was confirmed.

“I’m very excited. Very happy to be here and I can’t wait to see the fans,” Hannibal told Burnley’s website. “I have played against Burnley before at Turf Moor and the atmosphere was amazing.

“After speaking to the coach [Scott Parker] the project sounded good to me and hopefully we can make success.”

One of Hannibal’s five United starts came for United at Burnley last season in a 1-0 win. The midfielder netted his only goal for the club the week prior in a 3-1 loss to Brighton & Hove Albion.

Having joined United from Monaco in 2019, Hannibal went on to feature regularly for the Under-21 and Under-18 sides and was a winner of the Denzil Haroun Reserve Player of the Year award in 2021.

The Tunisian international also spent time on loan at Birmingham City and Sevilla during his time at Old Trafford. He joined the latter in January last season, but his short-term stint in La Liga only resulted in six appearances, and Sevilla opted against making the signing permanent.

Hannibal returned to United this summer and featured in four of the club’s five pre-season friendlies, although a permanent exit was always on the cards. He was not been named in the matchday squad for any of United’s three games since season, and will now help the Clarets’ attempts to regain promotion back to the Premier League.

Hannibal could make his Burnley debut in Wednesday night’s Carabao Cup fixture against Wolverhampton Wanderers, while it’s a Lancashire derby this weekend in the league when Blackburn Rovers travel to Turf Moor.