Hannibal Mejbri joined Sevilla on loan from Manchester United earlier this month, with the Spanish club holding an option to buy him permanently at the end of the agreement.
Mejbri started this season in and out of the team under Erik ten Hag but as the campaign went on, his involvement dwindled and he was eventually let go.
His start to life in Spain has, however, been far from ideal. The midfielder has missed the last two games despite being fully fit and now, their manager has explained why.
In a statement made by the club, manager Quique Sanchez Flores has explained that Mejbri will not be considered for selection in their upcoming games.
“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,” the former Watford boss said, according to the Manchester Evening News.
“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.”
The ball is now in Mejbri’s court to apply himself in the way that his manager is asking him to but that is quite the challenge and making it public certainly won’t make it any easier.
It remains to be seen if Mejbri’s six-month loan at Sevilla ends as a success or whether the Andalusian club decides to pull the plug and not sign him permanently.
More must-reads: