'Please play Hannibal' - Manchester United fans cry out for Ralf Rangnick to give youth a chance

Manchester United face Norwich in the Premier League on Saturday, but it is likely that they will have a heavily depleted squad. Ralf Rangnick confirmed in his press conference that five players were unavailable through injury.

Rangnick said: "Five players will still be missing for tomorrow, some of them probably also for the upcoming games. Fred and Scott [McTominay], Raphael Varane will still be missing out, Luke Shaw had his bolts removed from his leg and Edinson Cavani, those are the five that will still be missing."

With McTominay and Fred missing and Nemanja Matic struggling to play for the full 90 minutes, United don't have many options in midfield. This means Rangnick will have to find a solution.

READ MORE: How United and Erik ten Hag should deal with their Cristiano Ronaldo conundrum

Some of the fans saw the funny side following Rangnick's injury update, which is easy to do when you've given up hope that United will achieve anything this season, suggesting Juan Mata should play in the pivot. The irony is that this is something Rangnick has tried in a couple of games already.

However, most fans were calling for United to play the youngsters, especially Hannibal Mejbri. The Tunisian midfielder gave an interview with Versus this week talking about the academy and the club.

He said: "We all know the story of Manchester United bringing young players into the first team. We know they have made history with it, with the likes of Beckham, Paul Scholes and George Best. Everyone knows it can happen at any moment so we’re ready for it. All of the youth academy players, not just some of us. We work hard and wait for our moment, we know it’ll come."

Hannibal has been part of the first-team set-up for some time now but is