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Manchester United have struck an agreement with Monaco to sign highly-rated teenager Hannibal Mejbri.
The French under-16 international midfielder has been on United’s radar since the January window, when they opened initial talks with Monaco over Mejbri, with Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal and Bayern Munich also said to be tracking his progress.
Now, with the player’s relationship with Monaco having soured, Mejbri is set to complete his move to Old Trafford for a fee set to be £9 million. Mejbri’s father, Lotfi, a former Tunisian footballer, cited a lack of trust as the reason for the dispute with Monaco, with the two parties falling out his contract, which the family claim was invalid because it was signed when he was under-15.
He is represented by the agent George Mendes who flew to United’s training ground at Carrington to discuss the deal with Executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward, who is the club’s transfer guru and contract negotiator.
Andy is an exiled English football fan living in Cyprus. He loves all sports but football is his abiding passion, and he still has dreams every now and then about scoring the winning goal in a Wembley Cup Final, even though his playing days are long gone. He follows most major leagues, across Europe at least, and has a favoured team in each. When he’s not watching, listening, reading or downloading podcasts about football, he spend his time worrying about his beloved Arsenal.