Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim has sought to play down the hype over teenage striker Chido Obi-Martin after his FA Youth Cup heroics in midweek. The 17-year-old hit the headlines after a hat-trick against Chelsea, with the first of his three goals a sublime lofted finish that helped his side to a 5-1 win.
The youngster now has 12 goals in just nine appearances for the club’s under-18 side, having joined from Arsenal last summer.
His form has led to calls from fans to bring him into the first-team fold amid United’s problems in attack.
No.9 Rasmus Hojlund has been woefully out of form since the arrival of Amorim, and summer signing Joshua Zirkzee has struggled to hold down a regular place in the XI. Marcus Rahsford and Antony have also depleted the forward ranks, leaving on loan deals in the January window.
United go to Tottenham on Sunday amid speculation that Obi-Martin could make his senior debut in north London. But in his pre-match press conference on Friday, the Portuguese boss was cautious when asked about the starlet.
"I don't want to say names,” he replied, when asked if Obi-Martin had been training with his squad. “We have to be careful on that. They are working with us - we had some problems this week - and we had some young players in training. He is one of them."
The star has already received international recognition for two different countries. He made five appearances in 2022 for Denmark's under-16 side before switching allegiance to England and representing them twice at the same level in the following year.
However, he promptly returned to the Danish set-up and has since won caps with their under-17s and 18s. Via his parents, he is also eligible to represent Nigeria.
Indeed, his style of play has already seen him compared to a pivotal striker to the Super Eagles, Victor Osimhen. If Obi-Martin continues to develop rapidly, he could save INEOS a sizeable transfer fee in the next window.
Amorim also admitted he was sweating over the fitness of a number of players, although he refused to provide names. And he implied that he would not about the availability of some squad members until the 11th hour.
“We have had some problems also,” he said. “We don't have players back. Maybe we have one or two issues, we are waiting. We have one player also who is sick so we will see who is fit.”