Rangers confirmed as moving for £8M Man Utd star

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Rangers confirmed as moving for £8M Man Utd star
Manchester United's Tunisian midfielder #46 Hannibal Mejbri gestures during the pre-season club friendly football match between Manchester United and Real Betis at SnapDragon Stadium in San Diego, California, on July 31, 2024. (Photo by Patrick T. Fallon / AFP) (Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images)

Ibrox Noise has been sitting on the Hannibal Al-Majbri story for some time, the rising Manchester United talented playmaker (winger and AM) who appears to be falling just short of breaking into their senior team, but is a confirmed talent with a market value of £8M.

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This is the boy the Old Trafford giants paid £8.5M for when he was just 16, a stunning fee for a literal child.

Now, at 21, the Tunisian already has a staggering 27 caps for his country, and we’ve been waiting on Ibrox Noise to see how the story developed before finally reporting it.

And we now know for sure Rangers are 100% interested in this signing but that Man Utd don’t want to offer it as a loan, only as a permanent.

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Transfer guru Fabrizio Romano has confirmed the story, but has illustrated the issues:

“Yes, there was an interest. It’s true, but Man United are only interested in permanent transfer. So selling the player on a permanent transfer, not a new loan. And at the moment, for Rangers, that could be quite difficult. So the conversation is true, the interest is true, but the formula of the deal is going to be crucial to understand the future of Hannibal.”

The logistics here are clear – Utd won’t seek the boy’s full market numbers, but they will not accept much less; Rangers would be looking at close to around £6M+ give or take. Utd are not wanting to lose much on their outlay.

Now, it’s not the case that the club does not have that cash – we just sold Lammers and Goldson for a combined £6.5M.

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It’s a question of whether we feel that kind of investment in a player of his age and experience, not to mention quality, is worth it.

The answer? He didn’t shine overly spectacularly on loan in the Championship with Birmingham, but he’s already a fairly experienced Premier League, Champions League and LaLiga player with a combined 23 appearances in all these competitions. He also played the second half at Murrayfield v the Famous last month.

At his age that’s not to be sniffed at.

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This is a lad who is ready to be a top player for a top side – he’s on the verge of breaking onto the scene, just like Xavi Simons was when Rangers missed out on the-now Dutch superstar.

Al-Majbri’s numbers aren’t incredible yet, but he’s clearly impressing on every other level – not quite enough to be a Man Utd player, but he’s a wanted man.

We just don’t know if it’s a deal Rangers want to do.

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