Father of Man Utd whiz Hannibal Mejbri wanted him to be a doctor | OneFootball

The father of Hannibal Mejbri admits he wanted the Manchester United starlet to be a doctor.

If it were up to his father, the midfielder would be battling in courts rather than midfield or performing in a hospital theatre rather than stadiums.

Despite being a footballer himself, Mejbri Snr insisted his hope was to see his son go into a career as a lawyer or doctor.

He said: "Even if he does [make it as a pro footballer], I do not want him to have a chickpea for a brain in his head."

Mejbri had other suitors in the Premier League.

At the age of 14, he trained with Arsenal and had an offer from Liverpool but ended up in Monte Carlo.

Lotfi said: "It has never been a question of money. If we were in for that, we could have got a lot more than what is being claimed in the press.

"I will give an anecdote: after signing for Monaco whilst on holiday in Tunisia, a lawyer with a mandate from Liverpool called me with an enormous offer.

"But I only had one word for him."