For those who have paid any attention to youth football in England, Chido Obi has been tipped as one of the most exiciting talents in the game for a few years now. The Danish teenager left Copenhagen's academy to sign with Arsenal in 2020.
He made international headlines in November 2023, scoring ten goals as the Gunners' U16 team beat Liverpool 14-3. In April 2024, he nearly repeated the trick, this time bagging seven goals in a 9-0 win against Norwich City.
Having established himself a as a huge talent, Manchester United managed to swoop in and sign Chido in 2024, at the age of 16. That was now roughly 18 months ago, so the question is: what has happened to him?
Chido's Bright Start to Life at Old Trafford
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Chido's early months at Man Utd were pretty exciting. He actually netted a hat-trick against Nottingham Forest in his first start for the U18s. By February 2025, he was called into the senior squad, making his debut off the bench as a late sub in a Premier League loss at Tottenham Hotspur.
Later that May, he became the club's youngest ever starter in the competition, at the age of 17 years and 156 days, as he was named in the starting XI against Brentford, although his team lost 4-3. Ahead of the 2025/26 season, Chido was included in the pre-season tour and scored his first senior goals for the Red Devils in 3-1 friendly win against Hong Kong.
Now 18, however, the Danish striker failed to play a single competitive minute for the Red Devils this season, making a Premier League sqaud just once – against Wolves in December.
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Ruben Amorim Loses Faith in Man Utd Youth
Chido Obi-Martin in action for Manchester United
Things appeared to go wrong under Ruben Amorim. The former Man Utd boss seemed to lose faith in his youth players, famously dropping Kobbie Mainoo while making dismissive comments about Chido and 19-year-old defender Harry Amass in December 2025, as he defended his decision to ignore the club's young prospects:
"Kobbie has had opportunities, especially last year. Everyone has.
“Amass is now struggling in Championship. Chido is not always a starter in under 21. All these guys played when a lot of people were saying sack the manager.
It's intersting to note that, as per the Daily Mail, some staff at Man United took a dim view of how Chido carried himself off the pitch on occasion. That said, as per BBC Sport, those Amorim comments were 'felt to be a needless and potentially damaging swipe' by those within the club's academy. Since then, he has spent most of his time playing in Premier League 2, with a tidy nine goals in 17 games this season. He also has three in three FA Youth Cup outings.
Man Utd Reject January Chido Loan Offers Amid Mixed Form at Youth Level
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There were actually loan inquiries for the young striker this January but Man Utd opted to reject them. It appears as though the club want to allow Chido to step out of the limelight away from senior football for a while. He's not been involved in any games since Michael Carrick became interim boss in January.
On this, Under 21s boss Adam Lawrence, who also coached the teen striker with the U18s, recently said: "I do think that has been a good thing for him on the whole. Naturally, with any player when you've had that first team exposure and then you spend a bit of time around the first team when you then have that bit where you're not around it as often, naturally that's going to have an impact on your short term, the way you see things or that bit of disappointment or frustration.
"But I think credit to Chido. What he's obviously done over this period is he's gone, 'this is the situation that I'm in. This is what I'm working towards to help take my game to the next level and then I'm going to go after it.'
"So that is the bit between now and the end of the season that he needs to continue to focus on. But I think he deserves some credit in terms of approaching it in that way and going after those things because, yes, you've seen players go the other way."
The same Daily Mail report add that Man Utd still have incredibly high hopes for the youngster but have also expressed privately that there is plenty to work on and that if he is to realise that potential at United. It's noted that Chido did not show enough willingness to lead the press from the front last season in youth games, but there has been a 'noticeable shift in effort and on-pitch intelligence' in more recent months.
His most recent game came against Real Madrid this week as the U21s lost 4-2 against their Spanish opposition in a Premier League International Cup quarter-final. The ManchesterEveningNews commented how Chido failed ot make the most of a counter attack, adding: "Unfortunately, it wasn't the first time Obi had been guilty of moving his feet quickly enough this season."
The report concluded: "The Madrid game was a bigger challenge, against better opposition in a higher age group. Obi's performance was reminiscent of some of his early-season displays, and such deficiencies are not acceptable at first-team level, which suggests he needs a loan next term."