"Bags of potential" - Burnley summer signing already becoming Turf Moor "fan favourite" | OneFootball

The Clarets signed the 21-year-old for a fee that could rise to over £9 million from Manchester United in the summer.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

Burnley's return to the Championship has been good so far and one of their summer signings is already starting to prove their worth.

Hannibal Mejbri was brought to Turf Moor at the end of August from Manchester United, signing a four-year deal with the Clarets. He set the club back £5.4 million, however, that fee could rise to £9.4 million eventually.

Nevertheless, the 21-year-old has so far proven to be a solid acquisition and has already played a key role under Scott Parker in just a handful of matches.

Burnley are currently third in the Championship table and have lost just once. The Lancashire-based side were beaten 1-0 by Sunderland before Hannibal arrived but in their three games since, they have dropped just two points.

The Tunisian international played a large role in those victories and he is already showing positive signs as the season starts to ramp up.

Hannibal has made an excellent start at Burnley

After making five appearances in the Premier League for Manchester United in 2023/24, as well as another six for Sevilla in La Liga, a drop to the Championship may have come as a surprise to some.

However, Hannibal has already started to prove why he has played at the top level during his short time at Burnley.

He has already started to create chances, and his ability to win the ball while one-on-one with an opponent is a huge part of his game.

Football League World's Burnley Fan Pundit, Nathan Rogers, has been impressed with the 21-year-old's start at Turf Moor and is looking forward to seeing more of him.

He told FLW: "Hannibal’s start to life at Burnley has been brilliant. He has endeared himself pretty quickly to the Burnley fans with a good first performance against Blackburn, where obviously, it was our big derby, and he put in a good performance that day and he made some good challenges. He got the crowd stirred up and made it a bit feistier in the middle for us.

"He made a really positive start to begin with, and then it went to another level against Leeds where he had a really tough game against really tough opposition. But he was very disciplined, and he started the press really well when he could.

"He brought down the ball in midfield quite a lot and I think everyone saw the viral video of him walking around the perimeter of the pitch when he was subbed off, goading the Leeds fans and giving it big to them and then geeing up the Burnley fans."

Nathan continued: "As the games go on, I'm seeing young fans with his name on their backs. So, he's certainly cemented himself this season and is sort of becoming a little bit of a fan favourite.

"I just hope he can reign in that discipline a little bit more. He's picking up too many yellow cards for my liking, but that's probably just a part of his game that we need to manage.

"Scott Parker needs to think of ways to implement him correctly and minimise the bookings and whatnot, so I’m really pleased we signed him. He's got bags of potential to improve on, and I think he'll be a great player for us this season. I think he'll be a real key component in our promotion push."

Hannibal must get his discipline under control going forward

Although his performances have been excellent, there have been shortcomings that must be worked on sooner rather than later.

Hannibal has already received two yellow cards for Burnley in the Championship, despite playing just three games.

If he picks up just three more bookings in the next 13 matches, then he will be banned for one game, and that will only impact him as he progresses throughout the campaign as the sanctions get harsher.

Parker must find a way to manage him more carefully, otherwise his involvement could be more on-and-off than it should be.

On the other hand, his aggression is a key part of his game, and his tenacity to win the ball back is what makes him the player he is, and it will serve him well in the next few years.