Sevilla make bizarre Hannibal Mejbri U-turn just hours after axing Manchester United loanee

Sevilla have named Manchester United loanee Hannibal Mejbri in their squad to take on Osasuna on Sunday, just hours after stating he had been axed from the LaLiga side's first-team.

Manager Quique Sanchez Flores said the 21-year-old would not be considered for selection for the foreseeable future as he is given “the necessary space to understand where he is, that he is at Sevilla and what it means”.

Hannibal made his Sevilla debut - his sole appearance so far - as a second half substitute in the club’s loss to Girona last weekend before being left out of the squad for the midweek defeat to Atletico Madrid in the Copa Del Rey.

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The Tunisia star secured a loan to the LaLiga strugglers for the rest of the season this month in a deal that has a £17m option-to-buy clause. However, having been limited for minutes at United since September, Hannibal is at risk of being left on the sidelines once more.

But in a bizarre turn of events, Hannibal has now been named in the Sevilla squad to play this weekend. While his squad inclusion is perplexing, the details of the midfielder’s misstep are equally unclear.

Earlier on Saturday, manager Flores had said: "He [Hannibal] 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…

"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."

Hannibal - who was on loan at