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Hannibal Mejbri sat on the Sevilla bench after joining on loan from Manchester United. (Image: Getty)
La Liga club Sevilla have released a brutal statement after confirming that Manchester United loanee Hannibal Mejbri has been made unavailable for selection. He was left out of their Copa del Rey defeat to Atletico Madrid and will remain sidelined after failing to impress since joining in January.
The 21-year-old made his debut in the 5-1 defeat by Girona and has not been involved since that loss to the league leaders. The club issued a statement to confirm that the Tunisian star would not be named in the squad to face Osasuna on Sunday and would remain out of action for the foreseeable future.
"After being with him, talking to him and having seen his first minutes in Girona, we are going to give him the necessary space to understand where he is, that he is at Sevilla and what it means," Sevilla boss Quique Sanchez Flores said.
Hannibal Mejbri on his only Sevilla appearance against Girona. (Image: Getty)
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"He has to know where he is and we want to see him. We have spoken with him and we believe that he has to have some time to learn, we wanted to give him space, time for him to see things from the outside and then he will return to the squad.
"In the end they are kids who have come and suddenly land in a huge club like Sevilla in circumstances of maximum demand. And they need a bit of location. And that location may be seen better from the outside than from the inside. You should take a step to understand what we want. Let's see if the boy applies himself and I think that in the end he will understand perfectly what we want."
Former United forward Terry Gibson gave a damning assessment of Hannibal's Sevilla debut, accusing him of "bullying" his team-mates and claimed that he was "all over the gaffe".
“Moaning at his team-mates, he was literally bullying (Adria) Pedrosa at left-back!” Gibson told El Tel and Jon’s La Liga Weekly podcast. “Hannibal came on on the left side of midfield and went roaming all over the pitch. You have to admire him for wanting to get on the ball, but his positional play was all over the gaffe. You’re looking at thinking: '(Sevilla) have lost the ball now and he’s on the right wing!’.
“He’s got booked in the first minute and I was thinking he was going to be sent off. He didn’t, but every time you saw him he was moaning at a team-mate and that’s the last thing they need right now."