Hannibal Mejbri represents one of the more ambitious Rangers links in a complicated transfer window.
The Manchester United midfielder was not involved in either the Community Shield penalty kick defeat to Manchester City nor the club’s 1-0 opening day Premier League win over Fulham.
It is expected that Hannibal will be on the move out of Old Trafford this month with Fabrizio Romano namedropping Rangers as Mejbri suitors earlier in the summer.
At the time there was an acknowledgment that the finances attached to the deal could scupper Rangers’ interest and the latest update adds weight to that theory.
With Rangers taking a sizeable financial hit after crashing out of the Champions League last week, it may well have had an impact on any pursuit of Hannibal.
Rangers to taste Hannibal disappointment?
Manchester World have been giving a transfer update surrounding Manchester United.
The local Manchester outlet claim that the Red Devils are actively trying to strengthen their squad in the middle of the pitch.
Uruguayan midfielder Manuel Ugarte of PSG remains the club’s first choice addition with interest in Sofyan Amrabat, Martin Zubimendi and Youssouf Fofana also quoted.
As part of that recruitment plan, there will be players moving out of Old Trafford with £30m-rated Scott McTominay heading the list.
Danish international Christian Eriksen is also mentioned, with Dutch giants Ajax seemingly interested in taking the 32-year-old back to the Netherlands.
Hannibal is then mentioned by the report with Manchester World claiming that the Tunisian midfielder is likely to leave United ‘in the latter stages of the summer market’.
Namedropping interest from Rangers, the report claims that a move to Spain or France ‘seems more likely’ as things currently stand.
Rangers transfer budget takes Champions League hit
Given the fact that Manchester United would demand a transfer fee for Rangers to sign Hannibal, the club’s failure to qualify for the Champions League is coming home to roost.
With the source of the links to Hannibal being transfer guru Fabrizio Romano, it would suggest that Rangers held or continue to hold a serious interest in the 21-year-old.
But after Rangers crashed out of Champions League qualifying in the home leg at Hampden v Dynamo Kyiv, the club have had to alter their transfer plans.
There’s every chance that Hannibal was on the A list in the event of Champions League qualification with Rangers moving down to the B list following the exit.
Midfield is an area of the park Rangers are known to be interested in recruiting a player and we’ll wait and see how the next two weeks progress.
Heavily Rangers-linked striker Albion Rrahmani has also secured a transfer elsewhere after the Gers’ failure to reach the Champions League.
Receive a digest of our best Rangers content each week direct to your mailbox
