Hannibal Mejbri, a teammate of Marcus Rashford’s at Manchester United, stated that Rashford “deserves everything that’s happening now.”
Rashford had a challenging 2021–22 season, but he got off to a strong start this year. He has carried that form into the World Cup with England in Qatar, where he has scored three goals.
The 25-year-old only scored five goals in 32 Premier League games for United the previous season, but he has eight goals in 19 appearances this season.
Hannibal, who is currently on loan at Championship team Birmingham City for the season, was also competing for Tunisia at the World Cup, where they were eliminated in the group stage.
Speaking to Stats Perform, the 19-year-old lauded Rashford as a player and a person, noting that the United forward has recently been actively involved in charitable work.
“I’m enormously happy because when I was at Manchester United, that’s when he [had] a bit of a struggle, but he never let up,” Hannibal said.
“He’s a very good guy and he deserves everything that’s happening now and he’s worked tremendously hard for it, so I’m very happy for him.”
Hannibal made two first-team appearances for United last season after moving there from Monaco in 2019 for an estimated £8 million (€10 million) fee.
The midfielder talked about what it was like to enrol in the Red Devils’ academy when he first arrived, particularly the challenge of doing so after having paid a sizable fee.
“It’s very difficult when you come into a youth dressing room with a €10m price tag,” he said. “You go into the dressing room, everyone judges you.
“But after a training session or two, you show your qualities and everyone accepts you. So that’s how it is and that’s football now, you have to put aside what people think of you, work, stay focused.”
Even though he is on loan, United head coach Erik ten Hag has had a strong start at Old Trafford, and Hannibal confirmed the Dutchman has been monitoring ten Hag’s development.
“The staff, the technical staff always stay informed with us, the players on loan,” he said. “So yes, if you do something bad, he tells you, if you do something good he congratulates you too. So yes, he stays in touch and it’s a great pleasure.”