Man Utd star tipped for permanent Birmingham City transfer as manager ‘suggests’ price tag

Birmingham City manager John Eustace made a light-hearted comment about signing Manchester United midfielder Hannibal Mejbri on a permanent deal after he scored his first senior goal in club football on Friday evening. Netting the opener in a 2-0 win over West Bromwich Albion, Hannibal sent Blues well on their way to soaring up to 16th in the Championship.

With plenty of fire and desire in midfield, Hannibal featured at the top of a four-man diamond which caused West Brom plenty of problems. Scoring within just 10 minutes, the Tunisian completely outwitted Baggies goalkeeper David Button by lining up to cross in a 30-yard free-kick before swiftly changing his mind and striking at goal instead. He then notched an assist with a wonderful delivery from a corner early in the second period.

“Hanni was awesome. His energy and all-round performance was different class,” Eustace said post-match, with excitement. “He’s a 19-year-old boy on his first loan, so you’re going to get dips in form and tired legs, but tonight he was back at his best. He was instrumental last week too [in the 4-3 win against Swansea City]. You’ve got to take the highs and the lows and tonight he was unplayable,” Eustace said.

Not only did Hannibal get directly involved in both goals, but he contributed a great deal to Birmingham dealing with any threat the Baggies did offer, with two tackles and one clearance. He also managed to accumulate two shots on target and two big chances created to round off an impressive display before he made way for the fresh legs of George Hall, in the 71st minute.

Naturally, with so much passion shown in a Blues shirt in such an intense encounter, Hannibal was always going to be tipped to join permanently after a strong performance. Quizzed on the possibility of bringing him in for the long term, Eustace laughed, and said: “Listen, if you’ve got £20 million I might be able to! It’s out of my control.

“I think it’s very evident all the players we have at our club, nobody plays like they’re a loan player. We’ve got a very tight dressing room in there and it’s like a family in there. Everyone gets on very well and everyone is very coachable. We’ve got no egos or any big-time Charlie’s. Everyone in that dressing room would like to stay together for as long as possible.”

Contracted to United as his parent club, Hannibal likely won’t have much of a say as to where he goes next season, but getting any sort of consistent minutes at Old Trafford seems a bit of a long shot. Whether or not Blues could convince the club to let him stay for another loan deal awaits to be seen, but one thing that is for sure – Hannibal certainly fits in very well at St Andrew’s.