Manchester United youngster Hannibal Mejbri is playing at “another level” on loan at Sevilla, according to his manager.
Having been used sparingly by Erik ten Hag in the first half of the season, Hannibal was among a spate of players to leave Old Trafford on loan in January.
The Tunisia international went on to join La Liga side Sevilla until the end of the season.
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However, the player failed to hit the ground running in Sevilla, with Spanish publication AS reporting last month that manager Quique Sanches Flores issued the player with “several warnings” and told the youngster that he “must learn what it takes to make it at Sevilla.”
Since, however, there has been an upturn in Hannibal’s performances.
Flores praised the 21-year-old ahead of this weekend's clash against Real Sociedad.
He told Diario de Sevilla: "The boy is reaching another level of understanding and is now capable of playing at any time. This has been a more mental adaption than a footballing one. Going from the Premier League to La Liga, which is very different.
"And moving to a team with a very difficult situation. From United, which was fighting among the top five, to Sevilla, which is among the bottom seven. It is very different. He had to be grounded, put (the challenge) into perspective and now it is the coach who has to play him."
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Hannibal’s loan deal at Sevilla includes a £17.2million option to buy.
Speaking in January, Flores had explained that Hannibal merely needed time to adapt to his new surroundings and warned it would take time for the player to be considered for first-team proceedings.
The Spaniard said in a press conference: "After being with him, talking to him and having seen his first minutes in Girona, we are going to give him the necessary space to understand where he is, that he is at Sevilla and what it means. He has to know where he is and we want to see him.
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"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.
"In the end, they are kids who have come and suddenly landed in a huge club like Sevilla in circumstances of maximum demand. And they need a bit of location.
"And that location may be seen better from the outside than from the inside. 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."
Chris Byfield